As Malaysians are slowly losing hope from waiting for the authorities to implement guidelines and SOPs to reopen the nightlife scene, Singaporeans are rejoicing.
The Singaporean Ministry and Trade Industry shared a statement to announce the reopening of the country’s nightlife industry and the guidelines both premise owners and patrons would need to follow.
“On 24 March 2022, the Multi-Ministry Taskforce (MTF) announced the easing of Safe Management Measures (SMMs), and activity-specific adjustments including the resumption of nightlife businesses comprising of bars, pubs, karaoke establishments, discotheques and nightclubs in the coming weeks,”
“In line with the above, all nightlife businesses will be permitted to fully reopen from 19 April 2022,” they wrote.
And of course, with the reopening of an industry, there also comes SOPs.
Here are the SOPs the Singaporean government have implemented for nightlife business owners and their patrons to adhere to:
- Groups can only consist of 10 fully vaccinated people, where full vaccination-differentiated SMMs (VDS) checks have been implemented at entrances.
- Face masks are required indoors while it is optional for outdoor areas.
- Physical distancing of at least 1 meter when not wearing a mask, between individuals or groups.
- A capacity limit of 75% for large settings and events with more than 1,000 people, with masks on and no physical distancing. There is also no capacity limits for smaller settings and events with 1,000 people or less.
- Supervised Antigen Rapid Tests (ART) for patrons are required by premises that allow dancing among patrons (nightclubs and discotheques). Only those with negative ARTs supervised by an MOH-approved test provider, either in-person or remotely, will be allowed to enter the premise. Each test will only be valid for 24 hours.
We hope that, with the Singapore authority’s decision to resuscitate their country’s nightlife scene, that the Malaysian government will look into implementing similar guidelines and SOPs to give leeway for our nightlife business operators to reopen as well.
Stay tuned for more updates.
Also read: M’sians Call Out Double Standard As Large Crowd Seen Partying At Food Fest In KL
