Organiser should clean up music festival first

I disagree with the writers of “Questions over FMFA ruling” and “Permit denial shows challenge of hosting clean FMFA” (March 10). The decision to bar the Future Music Festival Asia (FMFA) from Singapore is harsh but is the right one.

To the organiser, Livescape Singapore, the incidents in Kuala Lumpur were isolated ones. (“Stay calm, music fest organiser tells fans”; March 5)

Yet, the report, “Fans slam organisers as music festival loses appeal for permit” (March 7), stated that past editions of the same event were marred by drug problems, including the latest festivals in Brisbane and Sydney. We should not overlook this poor track record.

One of the letter writers said FMFA should have been allowed in to show that we are capable of holding a clean event, which suggests that we should use taxpayers’ monies to ensure that FMFA takes place and stays clean.

It should be the reverse. Livescape should show that it can organise a clean event before it comes here. That Singapore has a low drug abuse rate does not mean that the problem does not exist.

Many parents do not have to deal with drug problems here exactly because of the Government’s hard stand against drug abuse and any associated activities.

I have no sympathy for Livescape, which had sold tickets even after the police rejected its applications twice. It was no surprise that its appeal was rejected.