SINGAPORE: The Singapore Police Force (SPF) on Monday (Jun 3) said the suggestion that there was a delay in granting the relevant permits to the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) for its launch was "untrue".
This comes after PSP's founder Tan Cheng Bock said earlier on Monday he was "disappointed" to announce the party will postpone its launch, which was originally scheduled to take place on Jun 15 at the Singapore Expo.
AdvertisementAdvertisementIn a Facebook post, Dr Tan said the postponement was because the police permit for the event and other related permits such as the Public Entertainment Licence (PEL) are "still pending".
[h=3]READ: Progress Singapore Party postpones launch date: Tan Cheng Bock[/h]In a statement on Monday, the police said PSP's chairman, Mr Wang Swee Chuang, had applied for a police permit on May 3.
"On the same day (May 3) police asked Mr Wang for more information, and reminded him on May 7, for the information to be provided," SPF said.
AdvertisementAdvertisementThe police added that PSP wanted to play recorded music and screen a video and Mr Wang was advised to apply for a PEL and to submit the video to the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) for classification.
"This is a standard requirement for all public screenings of videos/films," the force said.
"The police again reminded Mr Wang on May 27 to apply for a PEL and submit the video/film to IMDA for classification."
The PEL application was "eventually submitted" on May 27, police added.
According to SPF's website, the processing time for a PEL application is "12 working days from the receipt of the application and the necessary supporting documents".
The police said IMDA contacted Mr Wang on May 29 to "advise him to submit the film for classification" and shared with him the submission process so the film could be classified in time for the Jun 15 launch. It added that to date, PSP has not done so.
"The police and IMDA had proactively engaged Mr Wang several times to get details of the event and were processing the applications, with the intention of facilitating their approval before the planned event date," SPF said.
"PSP has since postponed the event, without further contacting police."
In his post, Dr Tan said that the party was looking at a new launch date of "end June or sometime in July".
In April, Dr Tan announced the formal registration of PSP. Later that month, he unveiled the party’s logo - a palm tree which he said signified growth, purpose, strength and life.
Let's block ads! (Why?)
More...