National Arts Council Still risky to allow busking in public places
We thank Mr Wee Toon Hee for his views (Allow certain types of buskers to perform in public again, Aug 25).

Live performances, including busking, are critical to a vibrant arts scene and the National Arts Council (NAC) agrees that busking contributes to the buzz in Singapore's public spaces.

However, the Covid-19 situation still remains a public health concern, and we are currently unable to bring busking into public spaces just yet.

We seek the public's understanding that it will be difficult to manage the size of crowds and implement safe distancing measures throughout live busking acts.

Furthermore, many of our busking acts involve singing, and brass and wind instruments which bear higher risks as they require intentional expulsion of air when performing.

Many artists, including buskers, have been using technology to digitalise and create innovative content to reach audiences in exciting new ways.

While live arts experiences cannot be replaced by digital experiences fully, we encourage buskers to keep engaging audiences through technology, for everyone to get a chance to enjoy the arts.

Since April, *Scape, Buskers' Association and NAC have rolled out different initiatives with online partners such as Twitch.tv, Circles.Life and BigO to allow buskers to continue to engage audiences digitally.

Such initiatives open new doors for buskers to reach a wider audience.

Some of these projects have been initiated by buskers themselves, and NAC welcomes such resourcefulness and adaptability.

NAC is currently discussing with the relevant authorities on the resumption of live performances and will continue to engage our venue partners on buskers resuming at designated venues when it is safe to do so.

Elaine Ng
Senior Director, Engagement and Participation
National Arts Council

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/forum-still-risky-to-allow-busking-in-public-places

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