Providing opportunities for Singaporeans to enjoy the arts in everyday spaces

Response to parliamentary question on the busking scheme

Questions

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth for each year in the past five years (a) how many applications for a Busking Card has the Ministry received; (b) how many applications have been rejected; (c) what are the top three reasons for rejecting an application; and (d) in how many audition cycles are the audition slots fully taken up.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) what are the factors considered when deciding which five busking locations are to be allocated to a busker apart from the buskers' provided list of eight interested locations; and (b) for each designated busking location, what are the numbers of applicants and successful applicants in the past year.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang: To ask the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) why is there an allocation of only five busking sites to each successful applicant of a Busking Card; and (b) whether the Ministry plans to review and expand the number of (i) designated busking sites (ii) audition cycles per year and (iii) audition slots available under each audition cycle.

Response

1. Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth: The Busking Scheme was introduced in 1997 to support the Government’s efforts to enhance Singapore’s vibrancy, and provide opportunities for Singaporeans to enjoy the arts in everyday spaces from our city centre to our neighbourhoods.
2. Over the past five years, NAC has received an average of around 300 busking applications each year for a Letter of Endorsement. To accommodate greater interest in the Busking Scheme, the capacity of the quarterly auditions has been gradually increased. About 80% of the 600 slots available were utilised last year, and around one in two applicants were successful in obtaining a Letter of Endorsement.
3. In their audition, buskers are assessed by a panel of 3 arts professionals on their: (i) competency and skill in performance; (ii) engagement with the audience; (iii) expressiveness and confidence; and (iv) innovation and originality.
4. If they are successful, they will be allocated a number of busking sites so that there is a good spread of buskers across different locations in Singapore, and prevents overcrowding in certain spots which may cause dis-amenities such as loud noise and threat to safety. Over 90% of buskers are allocated at least one of their preferred locations. Currently, there are a total of around 300 buskers who have been given approval to busk at over 80 locations.