Nightlife businesses welcome extended liquor trading hours, say benefits could spill over to related sectors
In a bid to revitalise Singapore's nightlife scene, businesses can apply to extend their liquor trading hours by an hour to 4am on those two days.
Mr Pravin Kumar, owner of Star Bagawan bar in Boat Quay, said he knew he was 'definitely going to do it' when he heard the news.
'I'd prefer if Wednesday was included in the extension as well,' he told CNA on Friday (Aug 8).
'The thing is that in Singapore, we have created a culture where Wednesday is 'Ladies Night'. It is one of the hot nights of the week, right in the middle of the week where people tend to let loose.'
Nevertheless, the hour-long extension on Fridays and Saturdays will make 'a very big difference' for his business, as it received a late crowd - locals and tourists - who mostly come in after 10pm.
'I think we will sell slightly more, but I won't expect too much. The thing is, it's more than just the alcohol, it's about the customers having a good time,' he said.
Another company that will apply for the extension is the Zouk Group, with its Asia-Pacific senior director of operations David Long noting that it will make the opening hours of its establishments in the area more uniform across the weekend and public holidays.
'Consistency is key. From a guest's perspective, it can be confusing when we're open until 4am on some nights but only until 3am on others,' he said.
'The change allows us to deliver a better guest experience and supports a steadier flow of business. The extended hours will provide a welcome boost not only to our venue but also to the surrounding businesses in the area.'
Liquor trading hours at such licensed spots currently end at 3am on weekdays and Saturdays. It ends at 4am on Sundays and public holidays.
Mr Bjorn Seegers, managing director of Muddy Murphy Holdings, which operates The Penny Black pub in Boat Quay, said 'we will look into the viability' before deciding whether to apply for the 4am extension.
'We don't see it making a big impact for our model, other than the potential ad-hoc sports event that may garner sufficient revenue to warrant a late opening,' he said, adding that the bar's core business is typically earlier in the evenings.
It opens until late for some ad-hoc sports events like the Super Bowl, which typically happens in the wee hours for Singapore viewers.
BENEFITS TO OTHER SECTORS
Other sectors could also benefit from the hour-long extension, industry players told CNA.
'The Grab drivers and taxi drivers will 100 per cent get more customers, if not, how else will people get back home? Eateries nearby that open late will also get more business as people will be hungry,' said Mr Kumar.
Mr Long said that the extension is 'a great initiative that reflects the government's willingness to collaborate with the nightlife and hospitality sectors'.
'Singapore's nightlife scene is constantly evolving and maintaining an open dialogue between business owners and operators and regulatory agencies is essential,' he said, adding that the Singapore Nightlife Business Association (SNBA) has been instrumental in fostering those conversations.
Mr Zaran Vachha, co-owner of concert promoter Collective Minds Asia, said the recent announcement was a 'positive step', as there is 'a huge opportunity to host more shows'.
Among the new measures announced on Thursday was the possibility of new bars, pubs and nightclubs being set up along the Boat Quay Waterfront, Circular Road, Lorong Telok and Canton Street.
'The extension will encourage the public to go out more and stay out later, which in turn allows venues to create new concepts and music promoters like us to put on more events,' he said.
He noted that there is substantial demand for live events here, with a recent concert by English singer Fred Again drawing 10,000 people.
'To fully seize this opportunity, there is a need for more venues that can accommodate medium to large-scale music events and festivals,' said Mr Vachha.
Minister of State for National Development and Trade and Industry Alvin Tan told reporters on Thursday that the latest changes are part of efforts to encourage more tourist attractions in Singapore.
'I've been speaking to SNBA, SRO (Singapore River One) to see how we can better partner them to make use of many of the big events, for example, MICE events (and) F1, to bring global tourists down to Boat Quay and to liven up the place,' he said.
The Penny Black's Mr Seegers said, however, that he does not expect the trial to 'immediately' breathe new life into the area.
'If new and varied night club operators open shop over the course of the year, then the variance may help,' he said.
'Whilst it's a good first step, more can be done to holistically encourage people to stay out longer. An example could be later trains, night buses and shuttle services to hub drop-off points. I think if the trial proves to be well-managed and financially viable to all, then it has a fighting chance.'
MAINTAINING SECURITY
In 2018, a trial to allow alcohol sales until 4am on Saturdays was introduced in Clarke Quay. However, it ended after four months, after the police found that certain crimes involving public order had increased.
Coordinating Minister for National Security K Shanmugam said on Thursday that the government will monitor the law-and-order situation in the area during the trial, and that business owners will be taking some direct responsibility as part of the measures.
'It's a balance. We open up more, we can expect some more incidents, and we want to make sure that it doesn't get out of hand, and they also have a responsibility to try ... so they will put in some security officers to do some controlling,' he said.
Mr Kumar said that in his Star Bagawan bar, there is a system in place to de-escalate any fights or arguments that may occur among drunk customers.
'Whenever people drink, there will certainly be some tensions. Some people might go a bit crazy, and then engage in such behaviour,' he said.
He told CNA that his establishment does not hire bouncers. Instead, all his staff are trained to handle such situations, and immediately intervene the moment they notice something going wrong.
'To me it's very simple, you come out to drink, you drink to enjoy, you don't drink to make your night worse,' said Mr Kumar.
He added that as his patrons typically include foreign students, they also conduct stringent identity checks, such as looking out for fake identity cards, to make sure they are not underage.
The Zouk Group's Mr Long said the company's recent data 'shows no spike in incidents on nights with a 4am licence', and that it is committed to maintaining that record.
'We will continue to maintain sufficient security, coordinate closely with Clarke Quay management and take a proactive approach to preventing issues before they happen,' he said.
Ms Michelle Koh, executive director of Singapore River One, said on Thursday that government agencies are 'naturally' worried about security, so her organisation is stepping up measures such as hiring more security guards to conduct roving patrols.
Singapore River One was created in 2012 as the place manager of the Singapore River precinct, encompassing Boat Quay, Clarke Quay and Robertson Quay.
The additional measures will be funded through a combination of collecting some administrative fees from business operators, and also from Singapore River One's placemaking fees, said Ms Koh.
Singapore Nightlife Business Association president Danny Loong said on Thursday that lessons from the upcoming trial will eventually be brought to other areas across Singapore.
'We are definitely looking at other precincts. Our members cut across all parts of Singapore, and we do hear their concerns,' he said.
Mr Loong added that his association also takes in feedback from other related industries, as the night-time economy goes beyond just bars and restaurants, a perception which he wants to change.
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Asset tokenisation remains one promising use case of the technology, he adds. This refers to the ability to represent real-world assets as digital tokens, thereby democratising access to traditionally illiquid markets and creating a greater level of financial inclusion. Industry insiders say over the years, a shift towards institutionalisation has meant an exodus of those who prefer to operate in the greyer areas of the crypto world, as well as those who reject compliance and monitoring requirements. On Aug 1, the Singapore Police Force and MAS announced that local cryptocurrency trading platform Tokenize Xchange was under investigation. A director of its parent company was also charged with fraudulent trading. Prior to this, the company said it had ceased operations in Singapore and was relocating to Malaysia. Meanwhile, news agency Bloomberg reported in June that unlicensed exchanges such as Bitget and Bybit were planning to shift existing operations in Singapore to Dubai and Hong Kong. At the same time, the highly remote nature of the crypto sector means that many who work for unlicensed exchanges – which are not allowed to solicit Singapore customers – such as Binance continue to live and work out of Singapore. It is not just regulation that plays a role, as some argue that crypto's emphasis on decentralisation and breaking with norms appears to be incompatible with Singapore's emphasis on centralisation and stability. Privately, some say the sector's workers are more likely to embrace non-traditional ways of living that can be hard to live out in relatively conservative Singapore. One of the most headline-grabbing aspects of the FTX collapse was its leaders' co-living and polyamory, or having multiple partners. Indeed, the size and density of Singapore's crypto scene means nearly everyone knows everyone else, creating a vibe akin to a 'village' or 'middle school', rather than a growing hub, outside of conference season. This means gossip travels quickly and people can close ranks easily. Dr Loretta Chen (right) believes that Singapore's crypto regulations mean firms here can tout compliance as their competitive edge. PHOTO: SMOBLER However, enthusiasts like Dr Chen are optimistic about Singapore, arguing that the Republic is a natural hub for 'incredibly intelligent people' and high-net-worth individuals because of its reputation for safety and strong regulatory frameworks. She notes that whenever Mr Buterin visits the country, he does so without a security entourage and uses public transport, something that cannot be done in other crypto hubs. Being in Singapore also engenders a different kind of company set-up, says Dr Chen, who adds that Smobler stays away from the temptation of short-term profit of 'sh**coins and memecoins' and has diversified by going into AI and virtual reality. 'The technology lends itself to it, and many jump on that bandwagon, but we do not,' she adds, noting a long-term orientation is necessary for working closely with financial institutions and regulators. 'Regulation provides training wheels and guardrails,' says Mr Swaminathan. 'We can't be cowboys forever.' Enter the suits As regulators and financial institutions increasingly engage with crypto bros across the globe, it is giving the sector a growing veneer of legitimacy. This is channelling in more workers who might once have been destined for traditional finance or consulting careers. Crypto enthusiasts like Mr Tan note that as banks and family offices increasingly discuss crypto and hold related events, it has created a 'movement away from the original crypto bro Twitter culture'. Mr Hassan Ahmed (top right, with the Coinbase Singapore team) says the company is seeing an influx of interest from applicants. PHOTO: COINBASE Mr Hassan Ahmed, Singapore country director for Coinbase, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, echoes this viewpoint. 'The regulatory uncertainty was not just weighing on companies and capital allocators, but also on job applicants,' he says, referring to the pre-2025 years. 'Perhaps I wouldn't want to make my career path in an industry that might be driven offshore.' Coinbase has a staff strength of about 100 in Singapore. Mr Ahmed notes it is now seeing a record number of applicants. Similarly, crypto exchange OKX Singapore's chief executive Gracie Lin, 43, says her 900-strong firm has seen a strong uptick in interest from applicants. There were three times the number of applications in the first half of 2025 than over the same period in 2024. Such interest is not only confined to 'Web3 natives', but also from experienced applicants from traditional tech and finance, as well as new graduates. 'It feels like the industry has entered a more confident, post-winter phase, and regulatory clarity in Singapore and other key markets has definitely contributed to that momentum,' she says. This change is also visible at Token2049. Mr Chua Ee Chien, Token2049's commercial director, says the conference is seeing a surge of interest from organisations outside the world of crypto. PHOTO: TOKEN2049 Mr Chua Ee Chien, 37, the conference's commercial director, says four years ago, all the speakers at the event were from the crypto sector. More recently, it has welcomed speakers from BlackRock and Goldman Sachs. Attendees say this can at times create a puzzling mish-mash of cultures. On one side, suited bankers and regulators hold roundtable discussions. On the other side, men in T-shirts and shorts rub shoulders with scantily clad women in costumes or jump into cold plunges. 'And I'm sitting here thinking this is the reason crypto doesn't have more adoption on the institutional level yet,' says Mr Flynn. 'But that paradox, it's fascinating. It's what draws people like me to the space.' One such person making a hard pivot from traditional finance to crypto is Mr Eddie Hui, 50, who relocated to Singapore in 2022 from France to join MetaComp after 23 years at French bank Societe Generale. MetaComp is a digital payment solution provider, with products including a cross-border payment infrastructure powered by stablecoins, typically cryptocurrencies pegged to an existing currency like the US dollar. 'Up until recently, if you mention digital assets, people wouldn't know what you're talking about,' he says. 'If you mention crypto, they'll say it's a scam. But with the Genius Act, it really brings a lot of legitimacy into the space.' The Genius Act is a US federal law aiming to create a comprehensive regulatory framework for stablecoins, which was signed into law by President Trump in July. Dr Emiliano Pagnotta, an associate professor of finance at Singapore Management University, says stablecoins have emerged as the dominant use of crypto. In 2024, on-chain stablecoin settlement volumes surpassed US$15 trillion, eclipsing both Visa and Mastercard. 'Yet, despite this growth, regulatory ambiguity has remained a barrier to broader adoption. That changed with the recent passage of the Genius Act in the US,' he says. Dr Pagnotta adds that Bitcoin has also become a household name, and is now only behind gold and the top six US firms in market cap (Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet/Google and Meta). Since the launch of US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products in 2024, integration with traditional finance has accelerated, drawing over US$54 billion in inflows. 'In 2025, a notable trend has emerged: corporations acquiring Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset,' he says. 'Overall, this momentum is unlikely to fade, given persistent global concerns over fiat debasement, geopolitical instability and property rights erosion.' Meanwhile, Dr Christian Hofmann, an associate professor at the NUS faculty of law, says even central banks are now exploring the use of similar technologies. 'Of particular interest is the concept of wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) – a tokenised form of central bank money,' says Dr Hofmann. 'Especially in the context of cross-border transactions, such CBDCs could facilitate inter-jurisdictional payments and reduce dependence on existing private-sector intermediaries, notably the correspondent banking network.' Mr Eddie Hui, who made a hard pivot from banking to crypto, is emblematic of the growing institutionalisation of the sector. PHOTO: METACOMP For Mr Hui, a long-time banker, making the shift to crypto has not been without growing pains. For one thing, there is the constant need to educate and explain the product when dealing with traditional finance institutions. 'I never expected to be doubted in my field of work,' he says. 'You need to do a lot of education for people to understand what you're trying to do.' 'It's very different from the banking industry, where everyone who wants to work in the industry has studied finance at some point,' he says. 'When you work in crypto or digital finance, you cannot say, 'Please find me a candidate with over 10 years of experience.' There are a few of them, but it's more difficult to find.' Still, Mr Hui concedes that many of the firm's senior staff come from traditional finance backgrounds. 'All this experience and knowledge we acquired in traditional finance, what we're trying to do is apply it to the digital assets space as well.' For some of the insiders who spoke to ST, such institutionalisation marks a shift away from the sector's wilder and more informal subcultural origins – once premised on distrust towards centralised finance. 'The traditional prestige indicators that you normally look for in investment, banking or traditional tech roles – they're all coming into crypto,' says Mr Swaminathan. 'People care about your Ivy League education, your big tech resumes,' he says. 'They care about things that five to eight years ago, they certainly didn't. Now, it's frankly not all that different from if you were applying for a job at Google.'
CNA
14 hours ago
- CNA
Former CAG chairman heads 2025 National Day Awards list
SINGAPORE: Former Changi Airport Group (CAG) chairman Tan Gee Paw has been conferred one of Singapore's top honours. He leads this year's list of National Day Awards recipients, having been awarded the Order of Nila Utama, or Darjah Utama Nila Utama, for his contributions in advancing Singapore's development on multiple fronts, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said in a citation. Instituted in 1975, the honour is accorded by the president on the advice of the prime minister. Mr Tan is one of 7,210 people who have been recognised for their contributions to Singapore in this year's National Day Awards list. The recipients are made up of 6,460 civilians and 750 members of the military. VISIONARY LEADERSHIP Mr Tan played a significant role in augmenting Singapore's air hub competitiveness, water security and rail reliability, according to MOF's citation. From October 2020 to March 2025, he was the chairman of CAG. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, he kept CAG focused on Changi Airport's core mission as an airhub, enabling it to quickly achieve full traffic recovery post-pandemic. Mr Tan also contributed to the Changi East project and the design of Terminal 5. "Under his leadership, CAG advanced its innovation and sustainability efforts, enhanced operational efficiency and made significant infrastructure upgrades," read his citation. Mr Tan also served as the chairman of PUB, Singapore's national water agency, between 2001 and 2017. He enhanced Singapore's water security through initiatives such as NEWater and long-term water infrastructure projects, including the Marina Barrage. As an advisor to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the Ministry of Transport, Mr Tan "provided guidance to resolve complex technical issues" on rail projects and advised LTA on critical organisational issues. He also urged Singapore's rail operators to achieve a common rail reliability target by 2020. DISTINGUISHED SERVICE ORDER This year's National Day Awards will see two individuals being conferred the Distinguished Service Order, or Darjah Utama Bakti Cemerlang: defence scientist Lui Pao Chuen and late artist Lim Tze Peng. Prof Lui is conferred the Distinguished Service Order for his contributions to Singapore in numerous domains. A citation issued by MOF referred to him as "a pioneering advocate of systems thinking". He served for 41 years in the Ministry of Defence, including spending 22 years as its first chief defence scientist. Prof Lui is the inaugural Temasek defence professor at the Temasek Defence Systems Institute and chairman of the Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Institute. Since retirement, he continues to contribute to education, science, technology, urban development, defence and infrastructure, the citation read. He served as an advisor to several agencies, including the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of National Development, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Research Foundation. He was also a board member of the Economic Development Board. "Prof Lui has been instrumental in advancing Singapore's research capabilities and technologies across multiple spheres, from nuclear science, water sustainability, national security, underground cavern development, to the establishment of Singapore's space capabilities," according to his citation. As chairman of MOF's development projects advisory panel, Prof Lui provided "strategic leadership" in the review of major public infrastructure projects, achieving cost-effective outcomes. He also guided the planning of Changi Airport Terminal 5, Tuas Port and the island's coastal protection. Mr Lim will receive the honour posthumously for his contributions to Singapore's cultural heritage and visual arts landscape. The iconic artist, known for his innovative approach to Chinese ink and calligraphy, died earlier this year at the age of 103. Mr Lim, whose artistic career started in the 1950s, was the first Singaporean to hold solo exhibitions at the National Art Museum of China and the Liu Haisu Art Museum, according to his award citation provided by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth. The self-taught artist's works have also been showcased outside of Asia, including at the Saatchi Gallery in London and the Grand Palais in Paris. Mr Lim's citation highlighted the importance of his Old Singapore Series, describing it as "an invaluable visual archive of Singapore's heritage" which masterfully captured Singapore's transformation through depictions of Chinatown and the Singapore River. "These works preserve memories of kampongs, shophouses and bustling river life, connecting generations of Singaporeans to their cultural roots," it said. In 1949, Mr Lim became a teacher at Xin Min School, before going on to become its principal in 1951 – a position he held until 1981. In 2014, he established the Lim Tze Peng Art Gallery at his alma mater, Chung Cheng High School (Main). The gallery was officially opened by then Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Jul 10, 2014. In 2022, Mr Lim opened The Art Abode: Lim Tze Peng on Ubi Road, a dedicated space showcasing his life's work. Twelve individuals have been awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, or Pingat Jasa Gemilang. Among them are social scientist Dr Noeleen Heyzer; PAVE CEO Sudha Nair; and Singapore International Arbitration Centre chairman Davinder Singh. The full list of 2025 National Day Award recipients was announced on the on Saturday (Aug 9).
