Sentosa sky lantern festival: Organiser undecided on refunds, will ask attendees what options they prefer

SINGAPORE — There has been differing information on refunds for a sky lantern festival on Sentosa Island that was deemed a disappointment by many attendees, because the organisers cannot come to a consensus internally. The company will instead canvass the views of attendees on what they would prefer.

The festival, which took place on Feb 21, had attracted negative publicity: Despite being touted as an event where lanterns with burning candles would be released into the night sky, attendees had to contend with light-emitting diode (LED) candles and tying them to barricades instead.

This was because Asian Couture and Boutique, the company that organised it, had failed to adhere to fire safety guidelines.

On Tuesday (Feb 27), one of its directors Shiermie Bautista posted a screenshot of a notice on her Facebook account, which stated that no refunds will be given to attendees and that they could instead use their festival tickets to gain entry to a second edition of the event, which will take place "around the first week of April".

However, speaking to TODAY on Wednesday, another company director Steven Lau said that the directors were still "engaging in an intensive discussion" and that there were differing views among them as to whether to issue refunds or not.

He added that the company is now planning to create a form to gather attendees' views and this form will have "a few options" for them to choose. 

Mr Lau said that the options would include a partial refund and the opportunity to attend the next event at a price that will be offset by the amount they had spent for the Feb 21 event.

"It cannot be a full refund because we do not know how much some of the attendees have paid as some had gotten the tickets at a 50 per cent discount," he explained.

The form is expected to be made available to attendees from March 4 and a "more concrete decision" on whether to refund buyers will be made after gathering the feedback.

In response to TODAY's queries, Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) confirmed that Asian Couture and Boutique has reached out to it, seeking to hold another similar event.

SDC added: "We reiterated the need to apply for all necessary licences and permits, and to abide by all requirements from the authorities before engaging us on a possible venue."

The corporation also said that it has been advising every event organiser on the various agency regulatory processes, which include organisers having to comply with regulatory requirements.

"Depending on the unique complexities for each event, the event organiser must plan in the lead time required for the licence and permit application and approvals, as they must show proof of these approvals before the event is allowed to take place."

Ms Janine Tan, 25, an attendee of the festival said that she would not consider attending the rescheduled event as this might end up being another "empty promise". 

"No one will logically go for the rescheduled event." 

Agreeing, another attendee Sheryl Lim, 25, gave poor planning and organisation of the previous event as reasons why it left a bad taste in her mouth. 

"I don't think I will go for it. There's no telling if the lanterns will catch fire again. It's obviously a waste of time," she said.

Mr Melvin Yong, president of the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case), told TODAY on Thursday that it has received 11 complaints against the event organiser and is assisting consumers.

"In general, consumers complained that the segment involving the release of sky lanterns was marketed as the highlight of the event and this was cancelled without prior notice. Affected consumers are seeking refunds from the event organiser," Mr Yong added.

As for whether attendees will be entitled to a refund in such an incident, Mr Yong said that Case is unable to comment since the complaint is pending resolution, but urged those affected to contact the association for assistance.