CNA938 Rewind - Can self-employed persons in the arts thrive in Singapore? Artists say Yes, with the right support
In 'Culture Club', Melanie Oliveiro finds out more about the 'Arts Acceleration Programme for Arts Self-Employed Persons', which started in April, and jointly organised by UOB FinLab and the National Arts Council. A couple of experienced self-employed persons: music director Evan Low, and visual artist and illustrator Toby Tan will share their expertise in diversifying opportunities, harnessing digital tools for entrepreneurship, and leveraging personal branding, among other things.
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CNA
5 hours ago
- CNA
Out at 6pm, home by 11pm: Why alternative clubbing experiences are gaining popularity
Don't fancy a night out till 3am with hiked taxi fares and groggy mornings after? Now you can be in bed by 11pm after grooving to exceptional music with the slew of alternative party collectives popping up in Singapore. From coffee clubbing experiences to kid and pet-friendly raves, these collectives host a variety of party concepts at unique venues that typically end by 10pm, providing an alternate experience to your typical nightclubs. With more people working from home and rising transport costs, nightlife operators seem to be increasingly shuttering in Singapore and more are turning to these earlier, more unique party options. CNA Lifestyle attended two alternative parties and spoke with three collectives on this growing trend in Singapore. Here's what to expect should you choose to dance the (afternoon or evening) away at one: DRIP COFFEE WITH DEEP BEATS It's 2pm and the energy at the Beans and Beats sold-out one year anniversary coffee party back in May was unmistakable: Sunlight streaming in, hanging plants cascading from above the dance floor, warm lights casting a soft glow across the room, and the pulse of house music setting the tone. Hosted at Behind the Green Door at Duxton, there was generous seating from plush sofas to bar stools and cafe-style tables, creating a space where guests could lounge comfortably, rather than jostling for standing room at a typical nightclub. But the most distinctive factor – the gentle, comforting aroma of freshly ground beans in the air. As I approached the bar, I instinctively expected the usual sight of bartenders shaking up drinks. Instead, I was greeted by baristas standing behind rows of drip coffee machines, each one carefully coaxing flavour from lines of curated specialty beans displayed along the counter, serving a no-added sugar birthday cake coffee instead of alcohol to guests. While most partygoers were groups of friends and couples, dotted throughout were also solo flyers – some people-watching, some making friends, others simply enjoying the moment with their coffee and the music. As the afternoon wore on, the dance floor filled up quickly and the tracks became more bass-heavy and upbeat. Soon, most people were on their feet dancing, jumping, hands in the air, without the need for alcohol as a confidence booster. But it was the atmosphere that fueled the energy – inclusive, welcoming and authentic, with the freedom to dance at 4pm in the afternoon without judgment and without the need for alcohol. Co-founded by 21-year-old students Ethan Lee, Matteo Lie and Aden Low in 2024, Lee said that one of their intentions behind Beans and Beats was to share their passions for coffee as well as for music, especially genres that were not typically found in nightclubs. He said that they also wanted to create a space for people to socialise. 'I think in this age with social media, everyone is in their own world, so we wanted to provide an opportunity for people to be able to go out and interact in a non-pressurising environment,' Lee added. 'Also without alcohol, it provides an environment where people can really be themselves, without any fear or judgement,' he said. 'You can come alone and chill, there's really no expectations.' When asked whether the lack of alcohol as a social lubricant was a challenge, Lee said: 'No, actually, the real trick is music, it's really a DJ's skill.' 'DJs that are so good that they know how to control the crowd – I think the energy is really actually more up to the DJ than the drink,' he explained, adding that Beans and Beats had flown out international DJ Yello Music for the event. Lee shared that he feels that serving coffee as a substitute for alcohol does not make a very salient difference in the party experience. 'Alcohol is a depressant, caffeine does the reverse. If you tell me that people cannot have fun without alcohol, I think it's definitely a mistake. I wouldn't agree with the argument.' Attendees too feel an affinity to more unique party experiences. 'It's more inclusive,' said Thet Thet Aung San, 18. 'There are some people who don't drink alcohol, and they can just come here for the vibes and have fun without the pressure to drink.' Another attendee Sushant Dwivedi, 37, said: 'It's definitely something different. Weekends are very precious to people, and normally, when you go out on a Friday or a Saturday, your Sundays just come with recovery, depending on how much you drink. 'But it (afternoon or evening parties) just gives you a bit more flexibility to do more with your weekend,' he added. Lee said that their attendees at first mainly consisted of Gen Zs in their early 20s, but as the concept caught on and gained popularity on social media, they have been seeing an increase in age in their demographic, with people in their mid 20s to 30s coming to their events. 'Definitely the price point is one of the things that are driving people towards our parties as alternatives instead of nightclubs,' Lee said, adding that they try to keep ticket prices affordable – around S$15 to S$20, which are cheaper than nightclub tickets. Each ticket also comes with a free coffee. 'So I think it's something that allows people to enjoy the same kind of music that they may look for at a club, but at a lower price point and also at a time slot that doesn't impact their sleep schedule,' he said. Lee however, said that he does not see Beans and Beats as a countercultural or a reaction against nightlife in Singapore. 'I see this rather as just a healthy alternative to people who want something different,' he shared. 'I think the beauty of the concept is that it appeals to people who would not traditionally partake in nightlife as well.' DANCING IN DAYLIGHT Perched atop the hill at Haw Par Villa was the popular party collective, Ice Cream Sundays' party, Haw Par Thrilla, with the bass thumping, audible well before reaching the top. From 3pm, the outdoor space at the courtyard transformed into more like a day festival: Food booths, picnic-style tables filled with people playing casual games of chess and catching up. In contrast to the Gen Z-heavy sober crowd at Beans and Beats, Ice Cream Sundays drew a predominantly millennial audience and served alcohol. But this wasn't your typical party scene either – there were also toddlers, babies in strollers, and dogs alongside their owners. The afternoon dance floor stayed comfortably uncrowded. With the open layout under a tent, groovy house and disco set pouring from the speakers, the space was made to feel very inviting, leaving party-goers with more freedom to dance, making the party experience more authentic, unpretentious and rather joyful. 'We're both very pro clubs, but it felt like there was another layer to the music events scene that was not fully formed yet,' said co-founder of Ice Cream Sundays Daniel O'Connor who helms the collective together with fellow members Jake Camacho, Meltem Acik and Nick Bong. Started in 2016, the number of attendees for their parties grew from 60 people, to now, 1,200 tickets sold-out for their Haw Par Thrilla event. According to Camacho, party goers can often expect to hear a mix of disco, house and music often rooted in soulfulness. 'You don't have to be a specific type of person to appreciate what's going on or to have a good time,' Camacho said. 'You might just be sort of a casual puncher who is just looking for a place to chill on the weekend with good music, but at the same time, you could be a hardcore house and techno fan and you come to see a specific DJ or to hear a specific sound.' Closer to night time, the space started to adopt more similar characteristics to a conventional beach club; outdoors with neon lights glowing and crowds of people drenched in sweat dancing their hearts out till 10pm. 'I do think we are trying to present an alternative way to enjoy dance music,' said O'Connor. 'Our purpose is to bring people joy through music and interesting experiences.' 'Broadly speaking, that's the impression we would want people to have when they come to one of our parties – it's something that's not too edgy,' Camacho added. 'You don't have to be so cool to fit in or anything. It's just very inclusive and appeals to a lot of different types of people.' Similarly, another collective, Fivetotenpm strives to give goers a well-rounded, unique experience with their parties. Co-founded by five individuals, they host afternoon to evening parties just like Ice Cream Sundays, with a DJ set and various festival-like activities in the daytime that, as their name suggests, start around 5pm and end no later than 10pm. Their next event, Sunday Mess, will be happening on Jul 19. 'You kind of give people the option to pick your own adventure - if people want to come and drink at our party, by all means. But then at the same time, if you want to bring your kids here and you want to have a family day at our party, that's also an option,' said co-founder and resident DJ Aloysius, 26, who declined to share his last name. 'It creates a lot more possibilities of what a party space can be.' 'Whereas in a club, there's an age limit and it's always tied to that one experience,' he continued. 'Which is just that you'd expect to be in a dark place with a speaker thumping at you – it's just one vibe.' 'But when it comes to a day party, we have many options – we've thrown our day parties in basement bars where it's completely dark and super smoky to the point where you can't even see the DJ, whereas the last one we did in Dempsey it was outdoors, with nature at the back.' Aloysius explained that they curate the music they play and build the creative direction of the party around the venue they choose. Co-founder Belle, 25, who declined to share her last name, also added that people often have certain expectations during a night out, for instance the transport home being too expensive or inaccessible. In contrast to throwing it in the afternoons or evenings, shops are still open and party-goers still have time to hang out with friends after and not have to worry about the late nights and lack of sleep. More than the timing, it is also the community these collectives are able to build with their events that are drawing more people in. 'Every time we play a different sound, we actually see a different crowd - the crowd actually moves with which DJ we book and the sound that we play, people definitely come for the music,' Aloysius said. 'If you follow the music that you like and go to the events, you will kind of always find your community, which is strange and also magical.'
CNA
6 hours ago
- CNA
Commentary: Did anyone really win the Great Eastern-OCBC standoff?
SINGAPORE: At Great Eastern's extraordinary general meeting on Tuesday (Jul 8), around 63.5 per cent of the insurer's minority shareholders said yes to delisting. But this did not meet the 75 per cent approval required to go ahead with the proposal. As a result, the proposed S$30.15 exit offer from majority shareholder OCBC – which was conditional on the delisting resolution being passed – lapsed. This was celebrated by dissenting shareholders as a win for minority rights. At the same time, others picked OCBC, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) as well as Mr Wong Hong Sun and his family - who collectively hold more than a quarter of Great Eastern minority shares that voted this week – as 'winners' in the year-long saga. Mr Wong – whose grandfather chaired Great Eastern for nearly 20 years – has been outspoken about his decision not to sell, citing both sentimental ties and valuation concerns. If everyone is the winner, who is the loser? Two groups of minority shareholders are now left exposed: those who declined OCBC's voluntary general offer last year of S$25.60 per share, and those who supported the more recent S$30.15 offer but were blocked by a small group of holdouts. A SMALL YET POWERFUL GROUP As Great Eastern's filing with the SGX shows, shareholders owning 23.7 million shares voted in person or by proxy. Of those, 15.02 million shares, or 63.49 per cent, voted to delist. But the Wong clan representing 7.56 million shares voted against. Their collective stake accounts for 87.5 per cent of the 8.64 million shares that torpedoed the delisting. In short, despite being the majority of the minorities, shareholders owning the 63.5 per cent voting shares failed to push through the resolution. Following the failed move to delist, Great Eastern shares will likely resume trading. But this share trading can only resume if Great Eastern restores the minimum 10 per cent free float required under SGX's rules. And this in turn depends on whether Great Eastern can carry out its plan to dilute OCBC's stake from 93.7 per cent to below 90 per cent. To effect this dilution, Great Eastern will have to declare a 1-for-1 bonus issue of ordinary and Class C non-voting shares. OCBC has agreed to support this so-called 'Pathway 2' to resolve the suspension impasse by agreeing to take up the non-voting shares. It will not, however, lose its 93.7 per cent rights to any economic benefits offered to ordinary shareholders, such as dividends. The default election for minority shareholders is ordinary voting shares, but they too have a right to accept the bonus shares in the form of the Class C non-voting scrip. From the questions asked during the extraordinary general meeting, it seemed like some shareholders disagreed with the advice of Great Eastern's independent directors and independent financial adviser. One of the shareholders told the Board that had they earlier taken the independent directors' advice, they wouldn't have gotten the higher S$30.15 exit offer. THE RIGHT PRICE This brings us to the next bizarre aspect of this saga. Having torpedoed Pathway 1 (the delisting), minority shareholders holding the combined 36.5 per cent stake surely intend to extract another exit offer, higher than the S$30.15 that they had rejected. Mr Wong was quoted in the press as saying that Great Eastern is his 'grandfather's company … I would not sell it'. What he probably meant was 'it's my grandfather's company, I won't sell at this price.' After all, when probed if the family might sell if the offer price was higher, he said: 'We might.' That is perfectly fair and fine: Every shareholder must seek the best price. But Pathway 2 is also fraught with problems for these dissenting minorities. If most minorities accept ordinary shares, Great Eastern will get to resume trading. However, when trading resumes, Great Eastern's shares will likely go south – below the pre-takeover price of S$18.70 – going by past trends. All minorities will end up worse off than before the takeover bid was launched in May 2024. UK activist fund Palliser, which reportedly bought into the counter at above S$25, will likely book millions of dollars in paper losses. So, it would be in the interest of dissenting shareholders to also scupper the lifting of trading suspension by electing for Class C non-voting shares. Mathematically, they would need the help of another 1.1 million shares to keep the counter in limbo – not delisted but still suspended. WHAT'S THE LIKELIHOOD OF ANOTHER OFFER? Can the dissenting minorities force the parties to make another exit offer? OCBC has stated clearly that it 'will not make another offer for Great Eastern in the foreseeable future'. Why should it? From OCBC's perspective, it can mop up Great Eastern shares if trading resumes at a discounted price. The bank is the master of the long game. Lest anyone forgets, it has been accumulating Great Eastern shares for the last 30 years. If lifting of the suspension is thwarted, the ball will be in the SGX's court to figure out a solution. Can the SGX compel a 'round 2': invite another, perhaps higher, exit offer? Or will it let the market decide on the price of an exit that is the result of willing buyer-willing seller arm's length negotiations between a major shareholder and minority shareholders who want out? There is no precedent, and we could be sailing into uncharted territory. What happened at the extraordinary general meeting is not a situation of the minorities having a voice. It is not a tyranny of the majority. The cynic might even call it tyranny of the 'minority of minorities'. The wishes of two-thirds who wanted to exit at S$30.15 was thwarted by the one-third who hope that the regulator can force OCBC/Great Eastern to come up with a higher exit offer. Finally, all this also raises the question of whether the SGX should rethink its 75 per cent rule to delist a company at the exit offer stage? If nothing else, the Great Eastern situation has laid bare the reality that shareholders controlling one-third of 6 per cent of a company can have the last word on a matter of such importance to all shareholders. Would not a simple majority of, say 50 per cent, be fairer?
CNA
13 hours ago
- CNA
Darussalam Mosque in Clementi to get S$10m makeover; new mosque to be built in Tengah
A site along Forest Drive in Tengah estate has been set aside for a new mosque, with design works expected to start in 2027. Meanwhile, Darussalam Mosque in Clementi — which has been operating for close to 40 years — will undergo a two-year, S$10 million makeover in September. The mosque will remain operational during the works. Nikhil Khattar reports.
