9 family-style karaoke businesses start petition for new classification
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
HaveFun Karaoke, which has an outlet at E!Avenue at Downtown East (above), has joined hands with eight other family-style karaoke businesses to call for the creation of a new "family karaoke" category that will allow them to operate their business under strict safety measures, without being lumped together with KTV lounges and nightclubs that have social hostesses.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
DeeperDive is a beta AI feature. Refer to full articles for the facts.
Nine family-style karaoke businesses have come together to petition the authorities to give them a separate classification from businesses such as the KTV lounges that are linked to a growing Covid-19 cluster.
The petition, titled "Separate family karaoke from nightclubs and KTV with hostess and allow us to operate safely", was started on petition website Change.org on Thursday.
It urges the Government to create a new "family karaoke" category so that such businesses will not be classified under "cabarets, nightclubs, discotheques, dance clubs and karaoke lounges".
This comes in the wake of the backlash against KTV lounges and nightclubs with social hostesses that have been identified as venues where there is likely ongoing transmission of Covid-19.
"Lumping us together in the overly broad nightlife category is not justifiable," said the petition, signed by 7th Heaven KTV & Cafe, Sing My Song Family Karaoke, K Voice Family Karaoke, Teo Heng KTV, 8 Degree Lounge, Major 99, HaveFun Karaoke, K.Star and Cash Studio.
"Our clientele are mainly youth and families, and daytime hours form the bulk of our operating hours. Our layout is also different, consisting of mainly small rooms whose occupants never intermingle. This layout is highly compatible with safe distancing."
Public entertainment licences for establishments are handled by the police.
The petition had garnered more than 3,500 signatures by 11pm yesterday.
Hoping to resume their core karaoke business sooner, the nine outlets have also called for the creation of a pilot scheme that would allow them to operate under strict safety measures.
Such measures could include opening karaoke rooms only to those who have been fully vaccinated or who undergo pre-event testing, the petition proposed.
This comes after a pilot programme by the Government to reopen nightlife establishments was put on hold in January after a spike in community cases.
Restrictions have already taken a toll on family karaoke outlets, whose numbers have been whittled down from more than 50 in March last year, before the Covid-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic, to fewer than 20 left standing.
In May, major karaoke chain Manekineko closed all eight of its outlets here.
Others such as Cash Studio and Teo Heng pivoted their businesses to reopen as work and study rooms or food and beverage outlets to stay afloat.
However, some operators feel this is no longer sustainable.
"It has been too long - nearly 16 months - since the authorities have prohibited entertainment outlets such as ours... while venues like cinemas and arcades have reopened," said Mr Flint Lu, founder of HaveFun Karaoke, which has six outlets islandwide.
He said that any delays in reopening entertainment outlets, despite more Singaporeans and residents getting vaccinated, will result in "more difficult and dangerous situations".
"The longer the Government chooses to not open up, the higher the chances of smaller operators opening up illegally," he said.
The Straits Times has contacted the Singapore Entertainment Affiliation, which represents karaoke operators, for comment.
