The organizer of the “Singapore International Arts Festival” urges the public not to be deceived by fraudulently claiming registration fees for competitions | Lianhe Zaobao

False information on the Internet has spread to the field of art education. The Singapore International Arts Festival organizer Art Garden Corporation, together with the New Arts Association, Nanyang Academy of Art, Nanyang Technological University, and Singapore Institute of the Arts issued a joint statement to clarify the facts and appeal to the public not to be fooled.

Recently, posters and tweets for instrumental music, vocal music, dance and other competitions named “2024 Singapore International Arts Festival” have appeared on Chinese social media platforms such as Xiaohongshu and WeChat. The organizer is the Arts Association of Singapore. ), supported by Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Nanyang Technological University, and Singapore Institute of the Arts. The competition charges an entry fee and indicates that the finals will be held at the Singapore Academy of the Arts in February next year.

The Singapore International Arts Festival is an annual international arts event hosted by Arts House Limited, but does not host any competitions.

Art Garden Company said in a joint statement: “Recently, a large number of posters named ‘2024 Singapore International Arts Festival’ and plagiarizing the logos of the New Arts Association, Nanyang Academy of Art, Nanyang Technological University and Singapore Academy of the Arts have been circulated on the Internet to promote art competitions. In China There is also a webpage for this event on ArtSai.com, including registration and payment links. We hereby declare that these activities are not authorized by the Singapore International Arts Festival, and have no affiliation with the above organizations. The relevant organizations have posted them on their respective webpages as soon as possible. and social media platforms issued a clarification, calling on the public not to be fooled.”

Art Garden Company said it had notified the National Arts Council, the sponsor of the Singapore International Arts Festival, and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth about the matter, and filed a record with the Singapore Police Force and the Singapore Cyber ​​Security Agency. Statement and appeal to the public not to forward false information and not to provide personal information and bank information. If you have suffered financial losses, you should call the police immediately.

There are still new posters appearing on social media with the registration fee exceeding 100 yuan

Yin Hang, secretary-general of the New Arts Association, told Lianhe Zaobao that although the competition is under the banner of the “Singapore International Arts Festival”, it said that there are competition areas in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Hangzhou and other places in China, and the competition covers all Western musical instruments. , Chinese musical instruments, vocal music and dance seem to attract a wider group of deceived people.

After the New Arts Association issued a statement, Yin Hang noticed that posts and accounts on platforms such as Xiaohongshu and WeChat had been deleted one after another, but new posters appeared one after another, continuing to defraud under the banner of “Singapore International Arts Festival” , and rely on other associations and colleges with Singapore names as supporting units or venue partners.

The reporter tried to click on the registration link on the WeChat platform. All competitions use a unified electronic registration form, and then guide users to transfer and submit the registration fee. The registration fee for a single person is RMB 680 (approximately S$126), and for a group of four or more people, the registration fee is RMB 580 (approximately S$108) per person.

Yin Hang said that because new accounts, tweets and posters appear one after another on social media platforms, and the names of contact persons are constantly changing, and the receiving account is a bank account registered in China, even if the local police are called, the organization behind it can be traced. Extremely difficult.