Sentosa sky lantern festival: Full refund for attendees who lodged complaint with CASE
The lanterns at the Singapore Sky Lantern Festival were meant to float in the sky for five to 10 minutes while being tethered to the ground via 60m-long strings. (Images: TikTok/huynhthi0303, Eventbrite website)
SINGAPORE: All 68 attendees of the Singapore Sky Lantern Festival who filed a report with the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) will receive a full refund, said CASE on Wednesday (Mar 27).
Asian Couture and Boutique, the event organiser, has also agreed to refund affected consumers who lodge their complaint with CASE by 11.59pm on Mar 31.
"This comes after CASE's active representation and engagement with Asian Couture and Boutique on behalf of affected customers," said CASE.
The event, held at Sentosa's Palawan Green on Feb 21, fell far short of what had been advertised. Attendees were promised floating lanterns - tethered to the ground - containing lit candles, filling the night sky.
Instead, the organiser told attendees on the day that "unforeseen circumstances" meant that burning candles were substituted with LED ones. In addition, lanterns were tied to barricades, as opposed to being suspended in the air.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force said the next day that the organiser had failed to obtain the necessary licences over safety requirements.
Tickets cost S$50 per person, excluding booking fees.
Timeline
Oct 31, 2023: The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) informs the event organiser of the fire safety guidelines, subsequently reiterating these requirements on multiple occasions leading up to the event.
Dec 14: One of the event organisers, Ms Shiermie Bautista, posts about the event on Facebook. A promotional poster states that the event is approved by SCDF, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC).
Feb 19, 2024: In a trial by the event organiser, a lantern causes a small fire on the artificial turf at Palawan Green on Sentosa.
Feb 21: SCDF conducts a site inspection after the event is fully set up and finds that the organiser did not adhere to the guidelines by providing proper tethers, sufficient fire extinguishers and safety marshals. The organiser is informed to not use sky lanterns for the event in the interest of public safety.
Attendees are then offered LED candles, pens to write down their wishes and the option to tie the lantern on barricades. Many ticketholders take to social media to air their disappointment, sharing videos of long queues in their posts.
Some are informed by personnel at the location that they can request for a refund via the website of ticketing platform Eventbrite.
Feb 22: SDC says the event was organised by a third party, Asian Couture and Boutique, which rented the venue. It adds that the event could only continue with music entertainment as the organiser was unable to obtain the required licences and clearance to meet safety requirements.
Ticketholders are directed to contact Mr Steven Lau and Ms Shiermie Bautista for refunds. Ms Bautista tells CNA that existing tickets are valid for a planned rescheduled event.
Feb 27: The event organiser announces that ticket sales are final and non-refundable. Ms Bautista says in a now-deleted Facebook post that they were “advised last minute” to not proceed with the tethered lantern release due to an inadequate supply of fire extinguishers.
Feb 28: The Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) says it has received 11 consumer complaints about the event organiser.
SDC says it is “disappointed” to hear that Asian Couture and Boutique has decided against providing refunds and that the final decision to issue refunds or to reschedule lies with the event organiser.
Feb 29: SCDF says it has yet to give clearance for the planned rescheduled lantern event. No further information on the date or venue is available.
Mar 7: The police confirm that they are looking into the Singapore Sky Lantern Festival and that a report has been lodged.
Mar 8: Mr Lau directs CNA to an online request form and says all attendees are required to fill it in.
CASE says in an update that it has received a total of 32 consumer complaints. CASE president Melvin Yong says consumers should be entitled to a full refund given the circumstances surrounding the event.
"I am delighted that CASE and Asian Couture and Boutique have reached an agreement to provide full refunds to affected consumers," said CASE President Melvin Yong.
"We will continue to protect consumers’ interests and work closely with businesses to achieve the best possible outcome."
The police, which confirmed on Mar 7 that they were investigating the event, said on Wednesday that the probe was still ongoing.
The Google listing for the organiser, Asian Couture and Boutique, states that it is "permanently closed". The latest post on its Facebook page is dated Apr 8, 2022, although comments on this post, relating to the lantern event, are from as recent as Mar 8 this year.
