Safe Management Measures for Busking

71 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) what is the progress on busking pilots to test out the safe management measures required for busking; and (b) whether the Ministry intends to scale up and expand the pilots to more sites.

Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai: I thank the Member for his support for the arts and busking. Last December, NAC partnered with *SCAPE and Clarke Quay Central to conduct busking pilots over three weekends. They were well-received by audiences and were a success with the buskers. The events also complied effectively with Safe Management Measures (SMMs).

Given the current heightened COVID-19 situation, we will have to, unfortunately, delay the resumption of busking pilots until the public health situation improves.

Instead, NAC will, from mid next month, organise quarterly live-streamed busking for buskers to engage audiences online. This will provide a platform for buskers to try out digital busking and also develop their skills and capabilities in this area. The livestreamed busking will allow us to accommodate larger groups of buskers. This will not only broaden the reach and diversity of performances, it will also enable buskers to delight more audiences while keeping everyone safe.

We hope that these plans will create greater awareness of busking and widen channels for audiences to support busking, whether it is performed live or via a digital platform.