For about two years, six nights a week, performers from mainland China, Taiwan and Malaysia have entertained hundreds of guests at the HaveFun Live Show in Singapore, but its organisers are now in a fix ahead of coming work permit changes.
On Monday, the manpower ministry announced that a scheme allowing foreign performers a work permit of up to six months at public entertainment outlets in Singapore would cease in June after enforcement operations uncovered syndicates abusing the scheme.
A spate of operations in September and October exposed individuals who allegedly operated shell public entertainment outlets and hired work permit holders as performing artistes when these companies were non-operational. Some of these foreigners were suspected to have been released to work as freelance hostesses in other public entertainment outlets.
Advertisement
Flint Lu, chief executive of Goodwill Entertainment which runs HaveFun, told This Week in Asia that the news came as a shock to legitimate operators like him.
“I can fully understand where the authorities are coming from but the concern is, will that really resolve the misuse issue or only damage the legal operators? All the legal operators need a solution for this,” said Lu, arguing that syndicates would just abuse other work permits and visas.
Advertisement
“But for us legal operators, the effect is deep and the damage is very heavy,” he added.