Alcohol Control Act Singapore: Why It Matters

We’ve all heard that popular saying before, especially among the locals- “Singapore is a fine city”. Who could ignore the obvious, and if I do say so myself, perfect, double entendre to signify both excellence as well as an amount of money to be paid as punishment for not obeying the law? If you don’t already know, Singapore is notorious for the latter. Well to be fair, also the former (thus the whole perfect double entendre bit).

We employ the use of fines as a deterrent for most situations whether it be speeding, littering, and even Chewing Gum. Despite drawing flak and tongue-in-cheek ridicule from visiting tourists and Singaporeans themselves, there is an undeniable reason for their popularity- they work. 

It comes as no surprise that this also applies to alcohol and alcohol consumption in Singapore. And we’re not just talking about sellers having to pay a hefty fine for selling to persons who are not of legal drinking age either (the age for drinking in Singapore legally is 18 in case you’re wondering).

Drinking Culture in Singapore

To understand how the latest restrictions came to be, we must first take a quick detour into understanding what the local drinking culture is like. Singaporeans, in general, still hold dear the idea of “cheap and good”. This is not true for everyone of course and in fact, we have seen an increase of fancy bars and watering holes around town, even more inclusive “bars” that specialize in non-alcoholic cocktails, wines, and beers.

Ask the average Singaporean if they have been guilty of sitting by the kerb, drinking before heading into a club to avoid having to splurge on drinks once inside and you would probably get a coy smile or chuckle followed by an affirmative nod in response.

Probe a little deeper for details on their heyday and you will discover that fueling up before a night out was not only limited to the kerb or any number of public, albeit scenic places. They included pre-drinks at someone’s home or even the hawker centre nearest to the club of choice.

(Photo courtesy of Straits Times)

Some places, such as the bridge in Clarke Quay that connects Central Mall to the other side, have attained near-iconic status among locals. So much so that people just want to be seen drinking there, even if they do not have plans to party after.

Aside from the concept of pre-drinks which is not unique to Singapore, the common trait here is cheap booze and drinking in public.

Local Alcohol Restrictions

With the introduction of The Liquor Control (Supply and Consumption) Act in April of 2015, there are a few key factors to take into consideration before you start getting the itch to relive your glory days. The act was essentially a response to riots that occurred in 2013 in Little India and is still in force today. And yes, it might be surprising to some that we experienced a riot not so embedded in the past that we learnt about them through our history textbooks in school.

Sale of Alcohol

Under the Act, alcohol sale time in Singapore officially comes to a hard stop at 10.30pm till 7am the next day. This applies to all your usual go-to suppliers for pre-drinks from large supermarkets to chain convenience stores and the like, save for those of you who preferred to patronize the local coffee shop or hawker centre. To say this puts a damper to an existing pre-drinks tradition would be an understatement. Getting slightly tipsy before 10.30pm seems uncouth and showing up at the club (before covid) early might get your ‘cool’ card revoked. You are still allowed to purchase and consume alcohol at bars and clubs during the restricted hours but of course, that goes against “tradition”.

Consumption of Alcohol

To twist the knife further, there are also restrictions in terms of the location of consumption. That’s right, you are no longer allowed to drink in public during the stipulated restricted hours or you’ll be facing the all too familiar definition of fine mentioned earlier – to the tune of S$1000. A workaround for this though is that you would still be able to drink in a private place i.e., your home, a friend’s place or a private event. Also, if you obtain a valid permit to hold a barbeque at one of the local parks, you would be allowed to drink past the restricted hours in the immediate vicinity of your pit. Although let’s face it, holding a BBQ as a means to drink publicly is a little excessive.

Covid-19 Measures

Yet another spanner in the works is of course, the pandemic, which on its own plays host to a whole set of restrictions. But in relation to alcohol, the latest measures dictate that you would be limited to a party of 2 for hawker centres regardless of vaccination status and a grand total of 5 in restaurants provided everyone is vaccinated. Your best bet at a semblance of nostalgia remains as a private gathering of 5 (not including the host) at someone’s home. This is due to the fact that you would be able to maximize the number of people and not worry about vaccination status unless it matters to you personally. Sadly, your trip down memory lane would have to end there as the clubs have yet to open at the time of writing.

Rejoice and Cellar-brate

Despite the undoubtedly more negative conclusion to our current situation, there is a light at the end of the tunnel- alcohol delivery. Think about it:

• The best alternative to maximize the group size during the current period is to have 5 friends over for drinks
•  You want to avoid having to adhere to your nearest 7-eleven alcohol hours
•  You can’t drink at your favorite scenic spot past 10.30pm even if you did and,
• The maximum number in the group is 5 if you visit a bar, not a hawker centre (limited to 2), assuming everyone in the group is vaccinated (as opposed to possibly 6 if you had them over at your place with no vaccination requirement)

That said, you would not be short of options for types of alcohol either. Whether your pre-drinks always began with a few cans of Carlsberg beer or Heineken from 7-eleven, we have those. 

If instead, it always involved a trip to the supermarket for Jinro Soju in assorted flavours (the green grape soju is our personal favorite) or a bottle of Jack Daniels and coke, we have those too.

The best part? You could have all of these delivered to your doorstep, and for free if you plan ahead and meet a minimum order. There is just simply no better time to fondly relive the past in Cellarbration (pun intended) and no better way to do it.