‘40 years to build… a few months to wipe out’ — Future uncertain for employees at Orchard Towers’ nightclubs after closures

SINGAPORE: On July 15, 2022, operators and owners of public entertainment establishments at Orchard Towers were informed that licenses would not be renewed after May 31, 2023. Neither would new licenses be given.

However, after business operators at Orchard Towers and the Singapore Nightlife Business Association appealed for an extension of their licenses, the Singapore Police Force said in April that the establishments would be allowed to renew their public entertainment licences till this July upon meeting the requirements for renewal.

But beyond that, there will be no more renewals.

The police have said that the law and order situation in the building “remains of concern,” adding that there has been no improvement over time.

Therefore, as part of the government’s “continued efforts to manage the law and order situation and disamenities”, came the decision to no longer grant new or renew these licenses at Orchard Towers.

Murders in 2019 and 2022 have certainly been a cause for alarm.

But the future now looks uncertain for the employees of the establishments affected by the decision to close down the public entertainment spots at Orchard Towers.

A piece in Business Insider notes that proprietors are concerned over the fate of the employees, including musicians and dancers, of such night spots.

“The nightlife industry sustains a lot of families. The standard of living in Singapore is very high. The nightlife industry allows people to take on a second job,” Mr Bryan Ong, who manages Ipanema, a club in the building, is quoted as saying.

Another club owner, Mr Abe Isaac, said, ”It took 40 years for Orchard Towers to become an entertainment center that’s known all over the world. But it’s gone in just a couple of months and destroyed the whole industry.”

He added that although he has looked all around Singapore, “there’s no place to go.” /TISG

Big fight erupts outside Orchard Towers; netizens say this is the reason why Orchard Towers bars & nightclubs are closing