Covid-19: Wedding venue Orange Ballroom, organiser to be charged with allowing 235 to attend receptions

SINGAPORE — For hosting a wedding reception allegedly attended by 235 people on Jan 30 this year, venue operator Orange Ballroom will be charged on Wednesday (Nov 10) with violating Covid-19 regulations.

The wedding organiser for the event will also be charged, the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) said on Tuesday.

In a press release, SLA said that Orange Ballroom — a wedding and corporate venue located at Tanjong Katong Complex — had allegedly failed to ensure that the number of attendees for the event did not exceed the maximum permitted 100 people.

It had also allegedly let in more than 50 people to attend each of the three wedding receptions organised that day, as well as allowing 18 people to attend multiple receptions.

This meant that Orange Ballroom had failed to ensure that the attendees were present only during their scheduled reception, SLA said.

Wedding organiser Osman Arrifin will be charged with two offences on Wednesday.

SLA alleged that he did not take “all reasonable steps” to ensure that the wedding does not exceed the maximum permissible group size of 100 people by “allegedly permitting 235 attendees to attend (the) wedding”.

Osman also did not take all reasonable steps to ensure that the wedding guests attended only the reception at their allocated time.

SLA stressed that the Government takes a serious view of such violations.

Those who fail to comply with infection controls can be prosecuted under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) (Control Order) Regulations 2020.

Those found guilty can be jailed a maximum of six months, fined up to S$10,000, or punished with both for the first offence. Subsequent offenders face harsher penalties.

In March, the venue was shut for 20 days for breaching Covid-19 laws by holding the wedding reception on Jan 30. The venue was also once the site of a Covid-19 cluster last year.