Taylor Swift sparks row over Singapore's alleged $3M deal barring her from performing in any other Asian country
SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE: Taylor Swift’s sold-out concerts in Singapore have facilitated a war of words among other Southeast Asian countries over the perceived notion that the wealthy nation has offered a grant to the ‘Lover’ singer to perform exclusively in the island country.
Daily Mail has recently reported that the Singapore government is allegedly paying Swift upward of $3 million for each of the concerts of her Eras Tour in the nation. The deal in turn, restricted the 34-year-old Grammy-winning songstress from performing in any other neighboring territories.
As Swift is in the middle of her six-show run soldout leg of the Eras Tour in Singapore, the news of the alleged grant has “hurt” the leaders of the neighboring nations.
Singapore's neighboring countries speak out
Political leaders and statesmen from the neighboring countries including Thailand and the Philippines are calling out the Singaporean government for restricting Swift to perform in just one nation.
The Prime Minister of Thailand, Srettha Thavisin recently vented out his frustration after getting deprived of the opportunity to organize Swift’s concerts in his country.
Appearing at the iBusiness Forum 2024 in Bangkok, the Thai Prime Minister said that the Singaporean government offered the Grammy-winning singer up to $3 million per show.
He further termed the move as “astute” while saying that he has long wondered why the songstress has not chosen Thailand as one of her tour stops.
He said, “The Singaporean government is clever. They told [organizers] not to hold any other shows in [south-east] Asia,” per news.com.au.
Thavisin continued, “If she came to Thailand, it would have been cheaper to organize it here, and I believe she would be able to attract more sponsors and tourists to Thailand,” per Daily Mail.
“Even though we would have to subsidize at least 500m baht ($14 million USD), it would be worth it,” added the PM before remarking, “If I had known this, I would have brought the shows to Thailand. Concerts can generate added value for the economy.”
The same idea was voiced by the Filipino statesman Joey Salceda who said, “[This] isn’t what good neighbors do,” before adding, “Our countries are good friends. That’s why actions like that hurt.”
Singaporean culture minister says the amount is not as high as perceived
The Singaporean culture minister Edwin Tong has confirmed during a recent interview with the local news channel CNA Network that Swift was indeed paid a government grant, however, he also exclaimed that the amount was “nowhere near as high” as reported.
Recently, the government also released a report last Tuesday, February 27, that said Swift’s concerts have facilitated an economic boom in the nation.
They said, “It is likely to generate significant benefits to the Singapore economy, especially to tourism activities such as hospitality, retail, travel and dining, as has happened in other cities in which Taylor Swift has performed.”
While it is estimated that the seven concerts in Australia have pumped $140 million into the local economy, the Singapore leg of the concerts would generate around $400 million in tourism.
Swift is currently in the middle of her concerts in Singapore that commenced on March 2 and will run till March 9. During one of her concerts, the songstress opened up about her mother's childhood spent in Singapore.
