Asian countries in war of words over Taylor Swift’s Singapore-only shows

The next stop in Taylor Swift’s Eras tour has suddenly sparked a a big row between neighbouring countries.

Taylor Swift. Picture: Ashok Kumar/TAS24/Getty

Taylor Swift received a lucrative grant from the Singapore Tourism Board to perform in the wealthy republic as part of her Eras Tour.

The US pop star, 34, kicked off the first of her six concerts at National Stadium Singapore on March 2, which marks her only stop in South-East Asia. The region has a population of around 666 million people across 11 countries.

Swift’s decision to only play in Singapore, one of the richest countries in the world, prompted an outburst from Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, who last month accused Singapore of paying Swift up to $4.6 million per concert to secure her exclusively, something he found out after the deal was cut.

Taylor Swift during the first night of her Eras Tour shows at the National Stadium in Singapore. Picture: Ashok Kumar/TAS24/Getty

“The Singaporean government is clever. They told [organisers] not to hold any other shows in [south-east] Asia,” the prime minister said at a conference in Bangkok.

“If I had known this, I would have brought the shows to Thailand.”

A prominent politician in the Philippines also hit out at Singapore over the secret deal.

“[This] isn’t what good neighbours do,” Filipino statesman Joey Salceda said in a media statement last week. “Our countries are good friends. That’s why actions like that hurt.”

However, Singapore culture minister Edwin Tong has since refuted the eye-watering figure flagged by the Thailand prime minister.

Swifties at the first of Swift’s six Singapore shows. Picture: Roslan RAHMAN / AFP

Fans of Swift take pictures of a light and water show in the "Eras Tour Trail" at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Picture: Roslan Rahman/AFP

During an interview on local news channel CNA this week, Mr Tong confirmed Swift was paid a government grant, but it was “nowhere near as high” as reported.

The Australian government didn’t use public funds to pay Swift to perform in Sydney or Melbourne, nor did Japan for her earlier shows in Tokyo, the BBC reports.

It’s estimated Swift’s seven concerts in Australia injected $140 million into the local economy, while Singapore anticipates the Grammy winner will generate $400 million in tourism expenditure, thanks to the thousands of fans travelling from other countries to attend.

Swift wraps the Singapore leg of her tour with a concert on March 9.

She’ll then have a months-long break from touring, before returning to the stage in May to kick off the European leg of the Eras Tour in Paris.