Regulations for Use of Coloured Powder at Public Events

Mr Ang Wei Neng asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs whether the Home Team agencies have in place adequate rules and regulations to govern the use of coloured powder at large outdoor events.

Dr Chia Shi-Lu asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs what measures are in place to minimise combustible dust hazards for events including the Colour Run.

Mr S Iswaran (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Mdm Speaker, may I have your permission to take Question Nos 14 and 15 together?

Mdm Speaker: Yes, please.

Mr S Iswaran: Madam, a cloud of powdered substance such as corn flour could ignite, even though it is not considered a hazardous material when packed or stored properly and used in the way it was intended, such as for baking or cooking. Under the Fire Safety (Petroleum and Flammable Materials) Regulations, the import, transport and storage of substances which are highly flammable and beyond certain threshold quantities require SCDF licences. The holders of such SCDF licences are required to impose stringent safety measures with regard to the handling of such substances. However, this does not cover less combustible substances in powder form such as corn flour.

Police will assess all relevant factors, including public safety, before issuing police permits or public entertainment licences for events. If necessary, the Police may impose conditions to prohibit hazardous activities. The event may also be disallowed entirely if it is deemed to pose a threat to public safety. Events involving temporary structures, such as stages, will also require an SCDF permit. This will be issued only if sufficient fire safety measures are in place.

For events which are not regulated by the SPF or SCDF, the SCDF may still issue a Fire Hazard Abatement Notice under the Fire Safety Act, if they are aware of the existence of any potential fire hazard. A person served with such a notice will have to take steps to abate the fire hazard, such as ceasing the use of flammable materials. Should information be received by Police that a particular event may pose a threat to public safety, the Police will use all measures provided for in the law, including the seizure of items or stopping of the event, to prevent the commission of an offence.

The Colour Run event in Singapore will require a police permit and the post-run party will require a public entertainment licence. An SCDF permit is also needed for the erection of a stage at the post-run party. Both SCDF and SPF are in contact with the event organisers. The agencies will assess the hazards posed by the materials intended for use at the event, before granting the necessary approvals. Restrictions or additional safety measures may also be imposed to manage safety risks. This may include replacing combustible powder with non-combustible materials such as water mist, limiting the powder dispersal zone, disallowing sources of ignition within a certain radius, or prohibiting the discharge of powder at mass congregation areas such as the end point of the run.

Mr Ang Wei Neng (Jurong): I thank the Minister for the comprehensive reply. Firstly, I would like to express my condolences to the family members of the victims who were injured in the Taiwan colour party disaster recently. I want to ask the Minister a few supplementary questions. First, what are the lessons learned from the colour party incident in Taiwan that are taken into consideration in the regulations governing such similar events in Singapore? How many applications had MHA received pertaining to the use of coloured powder during public events in the past one year? And did MHA reject any of these applications or had MHA imposed additional conditions, as learned from the recent incident in Taiwan?

Mr S Iswaran: Madam, police permits have previously been issued for colour-run events in 2013 and 2014 and police permits have also been issued for annual Rang De Holi events since 2012. Rang De Holi events are to celebrate spring and involve the use of coloured powder. Whether coloured powder would be permitted in future events would depend on the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and SCDF's assessment of the safety risks posed by such activities.

In terms of the lessons learned, I think clearly one key point is whether adequate precautionary measures have been put in place when such events are organised. As I explained earlier, in general, there are a range of measures between the Police and the SCDF that can be put in place to ensure public safety and security for such events through the permits and licences that are issued. Beyond that, arising from this recent episode that occurred in Taiwan, the Police and SCDF are looking in a more detailed manner into the incident, its causative factors and, therefore, what lessons we can draw from that and impose appropriate additional conditionality if such events are to continue in Singapore.

Dr Chia Shi-Lu: One supplementary question. I was wondering, based on events such as this, whether there is a consideration to maybe have a separate category, as the Minister mentioned earlier about partially or not truly combustible materials, so that you can look into potential sources of combustible hazards.

Mr S Iswaran: Madam, I thank the Member for his suggestion, and I appreciate why he raises this. But I do want to point out that, in a sense, almost anything that is potentially combustible can pose a danger. It just depends on the level of concentration. Therefore, if we were to go about listing them, I think it will be a very long list. So I think we have to go on a risk-based approach to this. So, clearly, the highly combustible substances are very tightly regulated. Beyond that, those substances which are of relatively low combustible property, I think we should let the authorities look at this, especially the SCDF, and make the assessment. It may pertain to how it is used or additional restrictions on thresholds, in terms of how much quantities are brought into a particular event or an activity. So, let the SCDF and SPF make their assessment, and if there is a need for further fine-tuning of our regulations, we will do so. But we are not, at this stage, contemplating expanding the coverage in a manner that covers all combustible materials because that would be quite impractical.