Grants alone will not decide where a performer goes, as factors such as infrastructure, amenities, and safety also matter, and all of this helps Singapore in attracting top-class events like Taylor Swift's Eras Tour to our shores.

Regardless, Singapore faces "intense regional competition" for such events, and must continue investing in infrastructure and software to maintain its attractiveness, said Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong.

He was responding to questions in Parliament on Mar. 4.

On regional exclusivity

In February, Thai prime minister Srettha Thavisin claimed that the Singapore government had brokered a deal with Taylor Swift's team for exclusivity in Southeast Asia.

He alleged that the Singapore government had offered US$2 million to US$3 million (S$2.69 million to S$4.04 million) per show.

A Philippine lawmaker Joey Salceda later added to the conversation, asserting that such a move is "not what good neighbours do".

On Feb. 20, MCCY and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) clarified in a statement that the statutory board had “supported the event through a grant”.

But Tong highlighted in Parliament that the actual size of the grant is "not anywhere as high as speculated".

While the exact figure cannot be revealed due to business confidentiality reasons, he said the economic benefits to Singapore "are assessed to be significant and outweigh the size of the grant".

He added that while Singapore's many strengths — such as its location and quality infrastructure — make it an attractive place to host marquee events like Swift's concerts, Singapore, nevertheless, faces intense regional competition.

He said: "And we will need to continue investing in our infrastructure and our software to continue attracting marquee entertainment, and lifestyle, and sporting events into Singapore."

On necessity

Workers' Party Member of Parliament Gerald Giam subsequently questioned the necessity of such a grant, given Singapore's attractiveness as a destination.

He also asked whether the government had considered whether making Singapore the only stop in Southeast Asia would be perceived by some of our neighbours as being "mean".

"I'll try not to make my answer the '10-minute version'," Tong quipped in response.

"The real question is this. You have to make your calculations and work out what's in Singapore and Singaporeans' best interests," he added.

"And we make this calculation overall, and it is not in every case that we decide that we need to make a grant or we need to negotiate in a particular way."

With Swift's concerts, it would have been "very difficult" to have a show for just one or two nights because of the set-up involved, Tong said.

The minister added: "If you don't have certain economies of scale to play in Singapore over X number of nights for a period of time, you won't be able to reap the economies of scale. Then there's gonna be a very different balance to the considerations."

"The concert might take place in Singapore but for fewer nights, far fewer nights. Or it might not even take place at all, in Singapore."

He said STB would speak more on the topic of grants during the Mar. 5 Parliament sitting.

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Top image from Taylor Swift/Instagram and Edwin Tong/Facebook