Aware No. 2? Night Safari Halloween Event Cancelled Because Of 2 Christians (President Tony Tan And Ceo Isabella Loh)

[Guest Guest]

35% President Tony Tan or Isabella Loh Cancelled Halloween Event at Night Safari?

Rumours are now circulating that either 35% President Tony Tan who is Catholic has ordered the cancellation of Halloween at Spore Zoo after he graced the Mid Autumn Festival at the Zoo a few days ago citing tradition should be kept alive.

Or

Isabella Loh, new interim CEO of Spore Zoo who is a Christian who canceled Halloween instead, due to her Christian beliefs that the devil cannot be celebrated at Halloween. BTW, Isabella Loh is a loser Malaysian who quit her country to work in Spore eons ago. Now heading a division within Shell Spore. Not sure whether she is Catholic or Protestant.

Either case, religious nuts have voted out Halloween at Spore Zoo, one of its biggest annual revenue earners. Bunch of dumbfxxks who no money sense!

http://www.sammyboy.com/showthread.php?101415-35-President-Tony-Tan-or-Isabella-Loh-Cancelled-Halloween-Event-at-Spore-Zoo

[Guest Guest]

Tony Tan axes horror Night Safari

The planned event, promoted outside Orchard Cineleisure (above) was the brainchild of former chief executive Fanny Lai, but has been cancelled by her newly installed successor Isabella Loh, who said yesterday that 'WRS parks should have more family bonding and wholesome activities'. -- ST PHOTO : KEVIN LIM

By Amanda Tan

The Night Safari has canned a Halloween event - even though 1,000 tickets have been sold - because of feedback that it has no relevance to conservation.

Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) has pulled the plug just two weeks before Halloween Horrors was to be held on weekends between Sept 30 and Oct 30.

On Thursday, WRS, which manages the Night Safari, said the decision was made 'because of the negative feedback received from corporations, friends of the zoo, the public and the media about the event, especially over the relevance in relation to conservation'.

Ms Isabella Loh, director and newly-installed chief executive of the group, added that it agrees with comments made by President Tony Tan Keng Yam and that 'WRS parks should have more family- bonding and wholesome activities'.

[Guest Sadako]

But Isabella Loh herself looks like 贞子。。。muahahahaha.

[Guest Hard Truth]

That is the problems of a donor driven organisation. Donors got the say in what to do and what not to do. They override the full time management's decision. Than again, why Tony Tan made such a bigh hoo har on his first outings as president? he should just keep quiet and let different segment enjoyment their own fun in different time of the years.

However, it might be viewed as positive too, a first step to cancelling foreigners-driven events or activity which has no relevance to Singaporeans culture. Hope it means, Tony Tan is slowly chasing out the mentality of pro-foreigner policy and do our Singaporeans way.

[Guest Guest]

Creating and stirring shit when there is no shit in the first place. Irresponsible!

[Blacque]

Is Sentosa coming up with a Halloween event this year...? If it's not... I'll be very sad on Halloween Day

[Foreign Talent]

Isabella Loh, new interim CEO of Spore Zoo who is a Christian who canceled Halloween instead, due to her Christian beliefs that the devil cannot be celebrated at Halloween. BTW, Isabella Loh is a loser Malaysian who quit her country to work in Spore eons ago. Now heading a division within Shell Spore. Not sure whether she is Catholic or Protestant.

Now hold on a minute - what have you got against Malaysians who have chosen to work in Singapore? There are thousands of Malaysians who do work in Singapore. The government has not released official figures but it is estimated to be between 500,000 to 600,000 Malaysians working in Singapore - including approximately 150,000 who commute in from Johor. You have just insulted all the Malaysian diaspora in Singapore as well - I am appalled at what you've said. My dad is one of these Malaysians who have chosen to live in Singapore. You should be flattered that Malaysians like Singapore and think it's a nice place - rather than start building up walls, creating this 'us' vs 'them' mindset. Like, do you even have friends who are Malaysian? What have you got against Malaysians?

A quick geography lesson here: Malaysia is a big country, it is not uncommon for someone from Sarawak to move to KL for university or from Pahang to Penang for a job. Most Malaysians don't feel this need, "If I was born in Ipoh, I must live and work in Ipoh all my life or else I am considered a quitter who has abandoned my Ipoh roots." No, they think nothing about taking up a job in KL or Singapore if the right opportunity comes along.

Isabella Loh is the CEO of Singapore zoo - not that I condone her actions in the Halloween case - but let me ask you this: if there were any other management experts in Singapore with a keen understanding of how to run a zoo successfully, would Mandai zoo have chosen to employ a Malaysian over a more credible local Singaporean candidate?

And someone who is a CEO of a major tourist attraction in Singapore and heading up a division within Shell Singapore - by most standards, she's a remarkably capable person who has achieved loads, far more than you ever will in this lifetime. And if she is a loser by your standards, then goodness me, what does that make you - by your standards? Are you the CEO of an international conglomerate owning several blue chip MNCs?

Be careful who you call a loser - because people will start comparing you to this 'loser' and you don't wanna go down that road.

I judge Ms Loh by what she has achieved, not by her nationality or where she was born.

[gstc82]

please do not play politics by drading tony tan here. tony tan has better things to do than to order things like this. stop your fabrication by spreading lies. its getting quite a turn off by all the opposition supporters day in day out trying to do things like this.

[gstc82]

and this is blowing wind, not temasek review or yahoo singapore or online citizen. please take your politics elsewhere, i rather read what turns me on abt man and gays than whoever is trying to spread political messages here. and PE and GE is over, get a grip of your cock and shoot your sperm if you are that repressed.

[Guest GUest]

"WRS parks should have more manly-bonding and wholesome activities"

[Guest Guest]

Chill people... Whatever political affiliations we have, we should learn to accept and acre to disagree with our different viewpoints. There's really not need to resort to name calling and worst still, post irresponsible and divisive post like this.

[gstc82]

shd the moderator allow registered members to post comments? i wonder who are these people who suddenly appear with various nicks.

[Guest kentpwr]

Best to let you all know, the NEW CEO have cancelled Zoo and Night safari Annual D&D oso, why i know, 2 of my family members working there.......as she said it has no meaning to organise this event

[Guest Xiaoxue]

Best to let you all know, the NEW CEO have cancelled Zoo and Night safari Annual D&D oso, why i know, 2 of my family members working there.......as she said it has no meaning to organise this event

Tell your family members to encourage all the zookeepers and rangers to quit.

Then Isabella Loh will have no choice but to take care of the snakes and crocodiles herself. :twisted:

[gstc82]

its only right is she let the even cont this year, there is no need to org from next year. not a very responsible thing to do as tickets were sold and the SP students spent so much effort in that event to be cxl at very last min.

[KOK]

Now hold on a minute - what have you got against Malaysians who have chosen to work in Singapore? There are thousands of Malaysians who do work in Singapore. The government has not released official figures but it is estimated to be between 500,000 to 600,000 Malaysians working in Singapore - including approximately 150,000 who commute in from Johor. You have just insulted all the Malaysian diaspora in Singapore as well - I am appalled at what you've said. My dad is one of these Malaysians who have chosen to live in Singapore. You should be flattered that Malaysians like Singapore and think it's a nice place - rather than start building up walls, creating this 'us' vs 'them' mindset. Like, do you even have friends who are Malaysian? What have you got against Malaysians?

A quick geography lesson here: Malaysia is a big country, it is not uncommon for someone from Sarawak to move to KL for university or from Pahang to Penang for a job. Most Malaysians don't feel this need, "If I was born in Ipoh, I must live and work in Ipoh all my life or else I am considered a quitter who has abandoned my Ipoh roots." No, they think nothing about taking up a job in KL or Singapore if the right opportunity comes along.

Isabella Loh is the CEO of Singapore zoo - not that I condone her actions in the Halloween case - but let me ask you this: if there were any other management experts in Singapore with a keen understanding of how to run a zoo successfully, would Mandai zoo have chosen to employ a Malaysian over a more credible local Singaporean candidate?

And someone who is a CEO of a major tourist attraction in Singapore and heading up a division within Shell Singapore - by most standards, she's a remarkably capable person who has achieved loads, far more than you ever will in this lifetime. And if she is a loser by your standards, then goodness me, what does that make you - by your standards? Are you the CEO of an international conglomerate owning several blue chip MNCs?

Be careful who you call a loser - because people will start comparing you to this 'loser' and you don't wanna go down that road.

I judge Ms Loh by what she has achieved, not by her nationality or where she was born.

Well said ! Support + 1

[Guest Guest]

Oops, the witch hunt is alive & on !!!! More scary than Halloween. hehe....

[Guest david]

In todays' papers, the zoo's ceo, in her quest for validating her decision - brought in the mention of 'devil worship'. She even brought in Youtube videos of the controversies of Halloween in America now. She even claimed that some schools in America banned Halloween events.

In ancient times, even by the seventies, many chinese celebrated the mid-autumn festival by praying to the MOON!! Altars were set up, and incenses were burnt (this was worshipping).

But by now we all know that men has gone to the moon many times. So why are we still celebrating the festival in the most commercialised way?

Anyway, in the context of Singapore zoo in taking advantage of the opportunity to cash in on such an event, was there a need for her to bring in 'devil worshipping'?

She should just stick to the'family oriented' argument instead.

When a ceo makes a decision, whether it was solely her own or due to other influences, it should be solidly justified.

Bringing in America when we are talking about Singapore, was there a need to compare?

Halloween is such a commercialised event in Singapore, many people do not even remember it's significance in ancient times. So was there a need bring in 'devil worship'?

Such leadership will only bring Singapore a few notches down in her quest for advancements. Our government is now all about casinos and F1s. We are 'supposedly' going global and adventurous, attracting hi-spenders and the creme-de-la-creme. When it's alright to have burlesque performances, where women dance with their breasts exposed, I don't see what's so scary about a Haunted house!!

Such conservative leadership aint gonna get you nowhere!!

[Guest isabella]

In todays' papers, the zoo's ceo, in her quest for validating her decision - brought in the mention of 'devil worship'. She even brought in Youtube videos of the controversies of Halloween in America now. She even claimed that some schools in America banned Halloween events.

In ancient times, even by the seventies, many chinese celebrated the mid-autumn festival by praying to the MOON!! Altars were set up, and incenses were burnt (this was worshipping).

But by now we all know that men has gone to the moon many times. So why are we still celebrating the festival in the most commercialised way?

Anyway, in the context of Singapore zoo in taking advantage of the opportunity to cash in on such an event, was there a need for her to bring in 'devil worshipping'?

She should just stick to the'family oriented' argument instead.

When a ceo makes a decision, whether it was solely her own or due to other influences, it should be solidly justified.

Bringing in America when we are talking about Singapore, was there a need to compare?

Halloween is such a commercialised event in Singapore, many people do not even remember it's significance in ancient times. So was there a need bring in 'devil worship'?

Such leadership will only bring Singapore a few notches down in her quest for advancements. Our government is now all about casinos and F1s. We are 'supposedly' going global and adventurous, attracting hi-spenders and the creme-de-la-creme. When it's alright to have burlesque performances, where women dance with their breasts exposed, I don't see what's so scary about a Haunted house!!

Such conservative leadership aint gonna get you nowhere!!

There's noo smoke without fire. She's just a conservative Xtian fundie trying to impose her religious beliefs on the zoo's business/commercial decisioms...

[abang]

Putting aside superstitious beliefs, I dont see why the event has to be cancelled.

WTF with 'devil worship', it can be treated as a 'fun' event.

Sad that the decision to cancel it becomes another national issue!

How many amongst us visit the Night Safari yearly?

Is the business doing so fine that this event can be ignored?

I remembered the fun I had in Hong Kong Esplanade in 2008.

It was the height of Obama's election and kids donned his face mask.

Parents allowed their children to ask for "TREATS" from the visitors there -

not just the Angmo/Gweilo but the Asian/Chinese ones too.

Edited September 18, 2011 by abang

[Guest david]

In the papers she claimed to be a buddhist, so she can't be a christian claiming to be a buddhist,right?

As I mentioned, her reasons were quite weak, other than the 'family-oriented' and 'she felt the haunted house was too scary' reasons.

I've only been to the zoo when I was in school and, when I was very young, with my parents. This place, in the eyes of most S'poreans, is basically family-oriented and for the tourists. So whatever events they organised were so (I assumed), I didn't know they were otherwise.

When they started nite safari, I thought it was aimed at young adults (my impression is children sleep early). In fact my ex thought it was quite romantic to go. Should have gone, then it will prove that the 'nite safari' also caters to people with 'alternative lifestyles'. This ceo can use this excuse to cancel nite safari altogether.

My impression is, her interest is to please her corporate sponsors not the public who showed interest in the event (considering a 1000 tickets were already sold).

When a leader makes a controversial decision, it is best to back it up with more solid reasons, than what she was willing to reveal.

[Guest david]

In the papers she claimed to be a buddhist, so she can't be a christian claiming to be a buddhist,right?

As I mentioned, her reasons were quite weak, other than the 'family-oriented' and 'she felt the haunted house was too scary' reasons.

I've only been to the zoo when I was in school and, when I was very young, with my parents. This place, in the eyes of most S'poreans, is basically family-oriented and for the tourists. So whatever events they organised were so (I assumed), I didn't know they were otherwise.

When they started nite safari, I thought it was aimed at young adults (my impression is children sleep early). In fact my ex thought it was quite romantic to go. Should have gone, then it will prove that the 'nite safari' also caters to people with 'alternative lifestyles'. This ceo can use this excuse to cancel nite safari altogether.

My impression is, her interest is to please her corporate sponsors not the public who showed interest in the event (considering a 1000 tickets were already sold).

When a leader makes a controversial decision, it is best to back it up with more solid reasons, than what she was willing to reveal.

[jason]

'family-oriented' theme ? other than young kids how many of the teens or grown up kids will really follow their folks for outing ?

[Freedom711]

I think its just BULLSHIT~~ the zoo and night safari is family oriented the entire year except probably tat 1 mth of Halloween event~~isnt the zoo like11/12 family oriented? By doing so they are only catering to certain target audience like young children, ppl wif family and kids only and tourists~~ its very bad for the zoo in term of marketing and sale in a sense~~ Plus the halloween night is actually a selling point to boost tourism as well...I really think the woman isnt thinking and making decision not based on figures and benefits.

[gstc82]

duno who is trying to make this into a political situation. and she is a buddhist. not a christian.

[happy.99]

should she viewed this in money sense rather than religion sense? people come to together doesn't mean they are celebrating the devil. when business mixed with religion, it is in a bad sense for money!

[Guest Guest]

think we should not go further into this whole fruitless discussion. as a ceo, she has every right to do what she thinks is nec for her company. i cannot imagine what things will be like if we go about bitching and crying out loud when every other ceo decide to do away with d&ds, refocus their business alignment, etc.

come on people, chill... there are more things in life than to bitch people day in and day out. worst still, without knowing and understanding the full context.

let's be more mature about things.

[gstc82]

and most of us did not visit any zoos for many years. how opposition supporters in sg work to destroy the govt amzes me.

[Guest Guest]

@gstc82,

i frankly think it is not so much which supporters but rather, i think many who took such a position are those who think it is fashionable and trendy to go with the flow. and behind the anonymity provided by nicks, it is easy to take shoot off the hips and make comments that may not sound logical... so, best to just ignore them.

[gstc82]

its wrong to ignore these comments as you will be surprised as how many people actually believes any thing thats posted if its anti govt. you will be shocked if u go sites like temasek FB as read how many people wish LKY dead or even murdered. its acutally getting out of hand. if a opposition supporter says PAP is controled by martians planing to take over earth, bet u, there will be people who will believe as they think all opposition can do no wrong. i am worried for our future, i sense many people are going towards communist ideology.

[Guest Guest]

yup, i know where you are coming from but i think there is no need to worry... water will find its own level. thing about nature is that when things swing too far, it will swing back. there will be backlash. and when it happens, it will be quite a swing. let nature take its course. just make sure we do not partake in irresponsible, immature and childish postings or get upset by such senseless comments. it reflects on the person posting them instead. so... yup, no need to get upset by them. waste our energies only. and well, we may or may not be supporters of the ruling party or the opposition party. what is most important is that we are objective. whichever party has the quality, they deserve our votes.

[Guest nudist]

She may be buddhist but she could have been pressured to cancel the event by certain groups.

All it takes is some conservative Xtian fundamentalists to complain and make threats.

[gstc82]

hello, please lah, dun drag religion here or link this issue with politics. and the chruch of england, vatican etc do not care if singapore night safari hold any halloween event, please do not make it like the christians is running the zoo or singapore. or making this small issue into a political issue.

[Guest Guest]

So what's nxt? Going to ban Hungry Ghost Festival nxt yr? These spirits sure end up at her place asking for FOOD! Hehe...

I left the church a long time ago coz I could not tahan myself being a 'hypocrite'.

Nowadays, Xtians (most but there are a handful of good ones) judge more than luv.

I also met some 'staunch' xtians in gay saunas. It's always the 'my-spirit-is-willing-but-my-flesh-is-weak' excuse.

And yes. no more snake/bat/tasmania devil exhibits inthe zoo? They are all 'SATANIC'? lol

The biggest & only evil hides in the vices of our hearts, not out there.

[gstc82]

huh, what has this got to do w christians? CEO is not christian, she is buddhist. please have an open mind and do not give credit to christians that they have so much power.

[Guest Guest]

She may be buddhist but she could have been pressured to cancel the event by certain groups. All it takes is some conservative Xtian fundamentalists to complain and make threats.

interesting and another unthinking comment from nudist. central to it is - blame it on the christains. no logic again. first, the allegation was that she cancel the event cos she was christain. and when she said she is buddhist, the logic changed to one where she is pressured by certain conservative fundamentalist groups. aiyoh... when we go into the speculation mode, it will be never ending.

end of the day, what is most important is that the ones that would benefit most from all these hoohah (and that is the most important) are the animals.

please everyone, we can fault her for having exercised judgment wrongly in cancelling the event at the advanced stage of the planning, but we must recognize and respect her prerogative to make the decision to cancel the event as the ceo of the company (regardless of the motivation).

so let's move on people...

[gstc82]

oh yes! you are right! its the animals that benefits but sadly almost all incl me forgot that the animals will be spared of all the din.

[Guest petition]

Petition to bring back Halloween Horrors 2011:

http://www.ipetition...d%2Bto%2BFriend

[Guest corporate sponsor]

In the papers she claimed to be a buddhist, so she can't be a christian claiming to be a buddhist,right?

As I mentioned, her reasons were quite weak, other than the 'family-oriented' and 'she felt the haunted house was too scary' reasons.

I've only been to the zoo when I was in school and, when I was very young, with my parents. This place, in the eyes of most S'poreans, is basically family-oriented and for the tourists. So whatever events they organised were so (I assumed), I didn't know they were otherwise.

When they started nite safari, I thought it was aimed at young adults (my impression is children sleep early). In fact my ex thought it was quite romantic to go. Should have gone, then it will prove that the 'nite safari' also caters to people with 'alternative lifestyles'. This ceo can use this excuse to cancel nite safari altogether.

My impression is, her interest is to please her corporate sponsors not the public who showed interest in the event (considering a 1000 tickets were already sold).

When a leader makes a controversial decision, it is best to back it up with more solid reasons, than what she was willing to reveal.

My impression is, her interest is to please her corporate sponsors not the public who showed interest in the event (considering a 1000 tickets were already sold). When a leader makes a controversial decision, it is best to back it up with more solid reasons, than what she was willing to reveal.

That already is the best reason. Corporate sponsor more important or the stingy public? Have you been in any management before? Or just part of the stingy public? Ok, you're generous, you give S$20, did you think your $20 can feed any animal?

[Guest Ding Dong]

She can't differentiate between an entertainment show and a religious event. If everything she saw scares the shit out of her, than she should also let the tiger or lion go. Otherwise people are considered worshipping those dangerous animals in the zoo and it is also not ethical to lock them up from freedom.

I doubt she is a buddhist, even by IC definition, a person mind can still be skewed to the fundamentalist thought and succumbed to their association with her.

Back to the organiser, cancelling the event is like throwing away a million dollars donors money. It is a rash decision, let of intelligence and business acumen. I wonder how she became a CEO in the first place, did any fundamentalist elected her? which company she worked from and all the vital informations of her association are very important because this could be the tip of an iceberg since she only joined in July this year.

[Guest isabella loh]

What was particularly disturbing was a report from the Singapore Polytechnic team that someone in the senior management of Wildlife Reserves Singapore said, in response to why the event was cancelled:

"We should not worship the devil. We can be creative and turn the bad for good."

Wildlife Reserves Singapore would neither confirm or deny the quote.

http://www.mrbrown.c...154357b94b6970c

[Guest Guest]

Hi guys, I was involved in last year's halloween horrors and was gonna be in this year's too as a scare actor.

The entire event was planned by a group of students from SP's Diploma in Events and Project Management as their final year project, just like last year. Everything from the theme, costume design, recruitment/audition of actors to the actual planning and exectution of the event was and would have been done by them. Most of the scare actors, about 90% of us, are either poly students or recently graduated poly students.

The last minute cancellation came as a huge shock to all of us involved because it's less than 3 weeks to the start of the actual event. I was actually at the night safari trying out my costume the other day and when i got home at night I heard that someone high up decided to pull the plug on it just like that.

This annual halloween event has been going on since 2007 and is always a huge success in both drawing crowds as well as making huge profits for the Night Safari/Singapore Zoo. it is ridiculous to expect anyone to believe that the actual reason of cancelling such a highly anticipated event so close to its start is to make way for events like a Deepavali festival or other 'family oriented' events.

If they were against this from the start they would and should have cancelled it a long time ago, not only now. Not when all the costumes are done, makeup artists have been hired, scare actors auditioned and trained, props and decoration on site been set up, roadshow booth opened at Orchard and even tickets already gone on sale.

To people speculating about there being a religious nut behind this last minute cancellation, that certainly seems to be a possibility. From what we understand so far, the decision came from Wildlife Reserves Singapore's new interim CEO, Isabella Loh. (you can google her elite, uncaring face) The reasons we got apart from the one they told the media is that 'having an event like Halloween Horrors is like worshipping the devil.' I'll say that the people working at the Night Safari/Singapore Zoo, members of the public and of course the students who are directly involved in creating this event are all extremely disappointed in this shocking decision. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions as to what is going on...

[Guest Guests]

This is not an issue of whether Night Safari should hold the Halloween Party or not. The question is why waste $1mil and 7mths of preparation to cancel an event that had been held for the past 6 yrs anyway. If it's inappropriate, they can always cancel next year. Such an executive decision is not rational. The only reason i personally see is this: http://www.christian.../halloween.html

[Guest david]

How sad, some 'corporate sponsors' consider the public as 'stingy' and their money 'stinky'.

As you should know, it's 'corporate money' you are sponsoring and NOT your 'personal money'. So I hope as a management staff, you would not bring your own emotions into your 'corporate decisions'. Otherwise it will only show as poor leadership.

I really do not see this whole fracas as political nor religious, rather it is a just matter of flexing one's corporate clout.

This zoo news has been in the papers for the past few days, I'm VERY curious why so many people here want to stop the discussion?

[Guest aiyah]

Fanny Lai is a great marketing person. Carried out some of her programmes before. If there had been complains from Friends of the Zoo and corporations, I'm sure Fanny wld hv pulled the plug a long time ago. That's what a good leader wld hv done.

To cancel at this late date is committing management decision suicide. Income loss aside, loss of confidence and morale takes a greater toll. A good if somewhat harsh lesson for the poly students to learn but I feel their anguish.

Read between the lines - Tony Tan visited the zoo during Mid Autumn Festival and commented something (sorry folks can't remember what it was but The Straits Times article mentioned it), so CEO doesn't want to get a slap on the wrist for ignoring it.

Like what one mentioned above, the CEO should have let the Halloween event go ahead this year then come up with a new programme next year. That way CEO will score points plus make many people happy.

[Guest david]

Comments made by 'aiyah' was well said, but I'm not sure about the pres thing.

[Guest aiyah]

If the decision to cancel the Halloween event is CEO Isabella Loh's alone, there is absolutely no reason not to sack her. Wasting $1m of expenses and $3m of potential profit to replace a winning commercial event with a last-minute hare-brained and unplanned event are good enough reasons to be sacked. The only way she can remain if she is just the scape goat for a decision made higher up.

[Guest Guest]

Like what one mentioned above, the CEO should have let the Halloween event go ahead this year then come up with a new programme next year. That way CEO will score points plus make many people happy.

This whole debacle was a terrible, terrible decision. Speaks clearly of a lack of strategic foresight, and a lack of basic business sense. Isabella Loh could have turned the decision to shut down the event into a positive PR and marketing exercise, by announcing publicly that this would be the last time WRS would hold this event. That would have driven up ticket sales amongst Singaporeans who'd want to be part of something they wouldn't be able to in future. But no, instead, she chose to arbitrarily close it down.

[oralb]

Well it seemed the beloved funny man Mr Brown has threw down his gauntlet to boycott WRS (incl Night Safari, Zoo, bird park)

Personally that's WRS commercial decision, but it was badly handled. PR companies should take this as case reference, not only the CEO got slammed for being religious zealot (BTW she claimed she was Buddist not Xtian) newly appointed Pres TT got dragged into the fiasco.

Halloween is as RELEVANT to Night Safari as Deepavali.

Seriously did they see the irony of celebrating the festive of Lights in a NIGHT time theme park?

On the excuse on 'family oriented' events, come on, a family doesnt just equate to parents with young kids. A family can make up with parents with teenage children, or even a family of siblings, these families would have no problem with Halloween parties.

A trip to Halloween themed Night Safari can still be a 'family oriented' event.

[Guest Guest]

Let's cast aside the religious issue. Halloween has pagan (non-Christian) origins and so does Christmas (Was Jesus born under a coniferous tree?). Let's talk about the big-mouth issue. In any organisation, who has the biggest mouth wins. Why was Article 377A not repealed? Because the conservatives speak much much louder (e.g. gay sex is unnatural, despicable, like shoving a straw up your nose to drink water, blah blah blah.) So they won. 2007 Night Safari included Halloween Night. (no brickbat) 2008 ditto (no brickbat) 2009 ditto (no brickbat) 2010 ditto (no brickbat) 2011 sudden withdrawal after brickbats Who was the bigmouth, or rather the big clout? Tony Tan says "Not me!" Others says "Not in line with .... policy. Not family-oriented. etc." Well, whoever the big clout was, that person certainly holds a strong influence (mysterious identity). How I wish this sudden mystery would happen: 2010 Article 377A upheld 2011 ditto 2012 ditto 2013 ditto 2014 Article 377A repealed. Why? Who was the big clout? President says, "Not me!" P.M. says, "Not me! But general consensus lah." Mysterious, mysterious. Sigh, only a piped dream. Hahaha.

kong si mi lan la...