Blu Jaz Cafe loses public entertainment licence, can no longer hold live gigs from 22 Oct

Blu Jaz Cafe, a well-known live music venue along Bali Lane, has been told by the police last week that its public entertainment licence will be terminated with effect from next Monday (22 October).

While it can continue to operate without the licence, it can no longer hold live performances.

Its director Aileen Tan, 56, told The New Paper that it was first informed of the licence cancellation on 31 August, but lodged an appeal, which was rejected last Monday (8 October) owing to the cafe’s “poor track record of compliance” with licensing conditions.

The cafe had exceeded the 24 demerit points allowed in two years due to overcrowding issues.

Tan said that the 1,600 square-foot area on the first storey was given a capacity of only 43, and that included its staff, which is about 20 people on weekends.

“With the band taking up another five to eight people, overcrowding becomes very difficult to manage,” she was quoted as saying in the TNP report.

The three-storey establishment has been a mainstay in the Kampong Glam community for the past 13 years, holding a variety of live entertainment such as jazz gigs, comedy shows and poetry sessions.

It has groomed numerous home-grown talents, including stand-up comedian Fakkah Fuzz and singer-songwriter Charlie Lim, who sang this year’s National Day Parade theme song.

Tan reportedly said that all the scheduled performers have been informed of the licence cancellation but that many of them were “very angry, more angry than me, because they said this is one of the last few locations to have such performances”.

Blu Jaz will be appealing against the cancellation again, and the Kampong Glam community has rallied behind the cafe by sending letters of appeal to the police. A petition has also been launched on the GoPetition website, titled “Don’t Let The Music Die”, urging the authorities to reconsider their decision. As of Monday morning (15 October), it had garnered 688 signatures.

On the petition page created by an Anuj Kumar, Blu Jaz said on Sunday (14 October) that the Singapore Police Force’s (SPF) decision to cancel the public entertainment licence was due to the following: two offences of failure to ensure windows and doors remained closed (i.e. noise issue) on July 2016 and Nov 2017; and two offences of overcrowding by over 20 per cent above the capacity on April and May 2018.

“As for our appeal to reverse SPF’s decision on cancellation of the licence, the Appeal Board may confirm, vary or reverse SPF’s decision or require SPF to reconsider the decision or direction. The Appeal Board’s decision on the appeal is FINAL,” the cafe noted.

Pending the review of SPF’s decision, Blu Jaz said it is also requesting the Appeal Board to postpone the 22 October effective date.

Neighbourhood association One Kampong Gelam also sent a letter of appeal on Friday, urging the authorities to help protect “one of the last bastions of established home-grown jazz venues in Singapore”.

When asked what would happen if the appeal failed, Tan reportedly noted: “The rent here is astronomical. Without entertainment, we will not be able to sustain it and will eventually have to close shop.”