New rules prohibiting foreigners from participating in the easing of public expression dampened enthusiasm ahead of the fourth birthday of Singapore's lone public soapbox.
The elimination of licensing requirements for indoor public talks and allowing more activities at the Speakers' Corner announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong take effect Sept. 1.
The date marks the anniversary of the venue opened four years ago in Hong Lim Green in downtown Singapore, but so shrouded in regulations it has been left a lonely park on many days.
Interest was reawakened when Lee, the son of Singapore's authoritative founding father Lee Kuan Yew, announced in his first major speech Aug. 22 that performances and exhibitions will be allowed at the corner, but will not be allowed to focus on race and religion.
It was part of a slew of changes aimed at creating a more open and diverse society in the notoriously strict city-state.
Under what police have now described as "refinements", the organizer and participants must be Singapore citizens and not have previously been barred for having flouted rules at the corner, Singapore's version of its namesake in London's Hyde Park.
Events can only be held between 7am and 7pm The organizer must register at the nearby neighborhood police post as speakers were required to do in the past, and either he or his agent must be present throughout the events.
Participants cannot carry placards or banners, use microphones, loud hailers or other sound amplification devices, and there cannot be any assembly or procession.
"The rationale for this condition is that there is a need to ensure that the event does not escalate into a demonstration or protest march," a police spokesman told The Straits Times.
While cautious, activists had lauded the easing of public speaking rules after Lee, 52, said, "It's a signal to speak, speak your voice, be heard, take responsibility for your views and opinions."
Police also defined indoor public talks as any lecture, address, debate, discussion or talk held in any enclosed space "and which is not within the hearing or view of any person who is not attending or participating."
"There was a lot of enthusiasm when Lee spoke of liberalization," said Chandra Mohan, a member of parliament and former president of the defunct Roundtable discussion group.
"But the rules now seem to be a bit restrictive and it's a dampener."
Critics noted the continued ban on microphones despite the traffic noise that made it difficult to be heard and the 7pm cutoff time was too early to attract many.
Several groups said they had no immediate plans to organize talks and exhibitions, but would consider collaborating with other volunteer groups.
Sinapan Samydorai, president of the Think Center, said he wants to invite government ministers to take part in events. Allowing for exhibitions and performances does send a signal that space for civil and political expression is widening, he added.
The center was allowed to hold doll displays last year depicting the plight of abused and neglected children after failing to secure police permission to do so at a busy mass transit station.
K.C. Tan has been an exception to the past apathy towards the corner, airing his views more than 200 times.
Disappointed by the failure to extend the hours to round-the-clock, he said he still plans to speak for 12 hours straight on Sept. 1.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to