Alcohol rules

When and where you can drink in public in Singapore

Nobody may drink alcohol in a public place from 10.30 p.m. to 7 a.m. In the two Liquor Control Zones, Geylang and Little India, the ban also covers whole weekends and the evening before a public holiday. Drinking inside a bar or restaurant licensed to serve you, within its hours, is allowed.

Everywhere in Singapore

  • No drinking alcohol in any public place from 10.30 p.m. until 7 a.m. the next morning.
  • A public place is anywhere the public may go, free or paid, including the parts of private property that are open to the public while they are open.
  • Still allowed in those hours: inside a bar or restaurant licensed to serve alcohol there, within its licensed hours; at an event with a consumption permit; and in a religious rite in a place of worship.
  • Shops licensed to sell alcohol to take away may sell it from 7 a.m. until 10.30 p.m., unless their licence hours have been extended.

Geylang and Little India (Liquor Control Zones)

  • No drinking in public from 10.30 p.m. to 7 a.m. Monday to Thursday nights, and from 10.30 p.m. on Friday right through to 7 a.m. on Monday.
  • On a weekday that is the eve of a public holiday, the ban starts at 7 p.m. and lasts until 7 a.m. on the first day after the holiday that is not a holiday, or until 7 a.m. on Monday when the holiday is, or ends on, a Friday or Saturday.
  • Shops in the zones may sell alcohol to take away only from 7 a.m. to 10.30 p.m. on weekdays, and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and the eve of a public holiday.
  • An offence in a zone can bring up to one and a half times the penalties below.

Geylang: the blocks inside Sims Avenue, Paya Lebar Road, Guillemard Road and Sims Way. Little India: the area around Serangoon Road and Race Course Road, bounded by roads including Jalan Besar, Petain Road, Beatty Road, Dorset Road, Selegie Road and Rochor Canal Road. The Order draws both lines road by road, with maps. Public holidays · Little India

Penalties

  • Drinking in a public place during the ban: a fine of up to S$1,000; for a repeat offender, up to S$2,000, three months in jail, or both.
  • Drunk and unable to look after yourself in a public place: up to S$1,000, a month in jail, or both.
  • Drunk and annoying people in a public place: up to S$1,000, six months in jail, or both.
  • The police can order someone who is drunk, or who has been drinking and is annoying people, to leave the area, and can dispose of their alcohol. Not leaving is a further offence.
  • These offences can be settled by paying a composition sum instead of going to court; the law does not fix the amount.

Smoking has its own rules. Smoking rules · Alcohol you can bring in

Sources

Singapore Statutes Online, read 2026-10-05 (current versions as at that day). Singapore legislation is subject to copyright of the Singapore Government and is used here with the permission of the Attorney-General's Chambers; check Singapore Statutes Online for the latest version.