Singapore PM Lee shakes off Asean neighbours’ complaints over Taylor Swift deal

Singapore was not “being unfriendly” when it paid American pop star Taylor Swift to make the city state the sole Southeast Asian stop on her world tour, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Tuesday following complaints from neighbouring countries about the exclusivity deal.

“Our agencies negotiated an arrangement with her to come to Singapore and perform and to make Singapore her only stop in Southeast Asia,” he said at a press conference in Australia. “I don’t see that as being unfriendly.”

In Melbourne to attend this week’s Asean-Australia summit, Lee reportedly added that the deal had turned out to be a “very successful arrangement”.

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (left) speaks at a press conference in Melbourne on Tuesday alongside Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Photo: AFP

Swift’s The Eras Tour has the potential to generate some US$4.6 billion in consumer spending in the United States alone, according to a report by market research company QuestionPro published in June.

Though Singapore’s government previously confirmed that it had paid Swift to bring her tour to the country, it stopped short of confirming whether the grant was given as part of an exclusivity clause.

In parliament on Monday, Edwin Tong, minister of culture, community and youth, said the government was considering “appropriate measures” after details of the concert deal leaked.

Singapore’s Taylor Swift deal ‘nowhere as high’ as speculated, minister says

According to national broadcaster CNA, Singapore paid between US$2 million to US$3 million for Swift’s six dates in the city state.

Lee’s comments on Tuesday came as neighbouring countries had earlier expressed their ire at the deal.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin was the first in the region to voice his concerns, claiming last month that Singapore had paid Swift about US$2.8 million per show under an exclusivity deal.

He has since vowed to attract top performers to the kingdom, with a range of new measures in the pipelines. “We can bring A-listers and world-class acts to Thailand. This must be done,” Reuters quoted Srettha as saying.

02:14

Singapore Taylor Swift concert draws fans from every corner of Southeast Asia

Last week, a lawmaker in the Philippines also brought up the issue, reportedly saying in the House of Representatives this was not “what good neighbours do” – and prompting the country’s Department of Foreign Affairs to seek an explanation on the deal from the Singaporean embassy.

Political analysts previously told This Week in Asia that the upset was unlikely to permanently damage ties, predicting that relations among Asean member states were “resilient” enough to withstand such disagreements.

The region’s Swifties, as fans of the US pop act are known, have been divided over the issue. While some criticised Singapore for being opportunistic and preventing them from seeing their favourite star, others praised the government for securing a deal that is expected to bring in a multimillion-dollar windfall.

‘Never spent big for someone else’: Swifties make pricey trek to Singapore shows

Swift’s four concerts in Tokyo last month boosted the local economy by an estimated US$228 million, according to a report from Japanese research firm EconomicImpact.net.

Singapore’s tourism board and culture ministry last month defended the money paid for Swift’s concerts, saying in a statement that the shows were likely to “generate significant benefits to the Singapore economy, especially tourism activities such as hospitality, retail, travel and dining”.

Read further.

Tags: singapore-tourism