KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 — Livescape Singapore Pte Ltd, the organisers of the Future Music Festival Asia 2015 (FMFA15) said today it is now mulling its options after the Singapore government refused its appeal for a public entertainment licence.
In a statement issued through its Malaysian publicist Milk PR Sdn Bhd, the organisers expressed its disappointment with Singapore’s Home Affairs Ministry for rejecting its plea despite their efforts to boost the safety, security and medical management plan for the festival that has been linked to drug use in concerts abroad, including in Malaysia last year.
“In light of this development, we are assessing all options and formulating our next course of action. Full details of this will be made available over the next few days,” it said.
The two-day festival that was to be held in Singapore for the first time was originally scheduled to take place on March 13 and 14 at the Changi Exhibition Centre.
According to Singapore news portal, Today Online, the event was to be headlined by Avicii, The Prodigy, Fat Boy Slim and Afrojack.
The organisers sought to distance the Singapore event from past shows outside the country that had been marred by drug problems, saying the drug-related incidents in Malaysia last year were “isolated incidents that took place outside Singapore, which cannot and do not carry any implication that FMFA is linked to drug use or drug abuse”.
Last year, six Malaysians who attended the festival were reported to have died due to suspected drug overdose which also sent 16 others to the hospital, prompting its organisers to call off the festival on its third day.
National news agency Bernama reported Malaysian police as saying that the youths were believed to have taken methamphetamines before going to the dance festival.
The Brisbane Times reported earlier this week that Australian police had confiscated 7,500 ecstasy pills they believed were headed for the FMFA in Brisbane this week.
Another Australian daily, Sydney Morning Herald also reported that 60 concertgoers were found with illicit drugs at the music festival in its city last week.
