Give Vui Kong A Second Chance, 01 August 2010

It’s been three years since then-19-year old Vui Kong was sentenced to death in Singapore.

He’s been sitting on death row since 2007 at Changi Prison awaiting the day he would be hanged.

For someone so young, that in itself is torture.

His family, particularly his brother Yun Leong and sister Vui Fung [picture right, campaigning in Sabah], has been campaigning tirelessly for Vui Kong’s sentence to be commuted and he be given a second chance.

The Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign (SADPC) and The Online Citizen (TOC) lend our voices to the plea.

We would like to ask you, our readers and your friends, to help support the call as well.

SADPC and TOC will be holding a petition signing event at Speakers Corner on 1 August to garner signatures to appeal to the president to grant Vui Kong a reprieve. The signatures collected will be sent to the campaign in Malaysia to be delivered eventually to the president of Singapore, Mr SR Nathan.

Besides the signing of the petition, participants will also be able to say a message of support which will be recorded on video. We will use these for a second campaign clip. [Here's our first campaign video.]

Please do give an hour or so of your time to lend your voice to Vui Kong’s family and to Vui Kong who cannot speak for himself as he sits alone on death row.

The details of the event are as follow:

Event: Give Vui Kong A Second Chance

Date: 1 August 2010

Time: 4pm – 6pm

Venue: Speakers Corner (Hong Lim Park)

How to get there: Take the NEL to Clark Quay MRT station and use Exit “A”. It’ll bring you directly into Speakers Corner.

Programme:

1. Petition-signing, an appeal to the president of Singapore to grant Vui Kong’s clemency appeal.
2. Announcement of continuation of Facebook photo project
3. Recording of messages on video from participants
4. Short speeches
5. Taking of a group photo (6pm)

The clemency appeal must be submitted to the president by 26 August. And depending on how the president decides, Vui Kong could be hanged anytime after that.

This could be the final opportunity for us to do something to save Vui Kong.

Please come join us this Sunday.

Thank you.

Source: http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/07/sadpc-toc-to-take-to-speakers-corner-1-august/

Pink Dot 2010; 15 May 2010

Following its strong showing last year when 2,500 people turned up at Speakers’ Corner at Hong Lim Park, Pink Dot Sg has planned another event this year at the same location on 15th May 2010.

Singaporeans are thus invited to come together in a show of unity and solidarity to celebrate the Freedom to Love. Pink Dot 2010 will be a peaceful gathering where Singaporeans will converge to form a giant human pink dot. The goal for 2010 will be to exceed last year’s turnout – the largest public gathering at Speakers’ Corner since inception in September 2000.

Pink Dot aims to drive awareness and foster deeper understanding of the basic human need to love and be loved, regardless one’s sexual orientation. The movement, comprising volunteers who care deeply about the place that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Singaporeans call home, seeks to underscore the importance of celebrating diversity in its myriad forms amid social prejudices that continue to exist today.

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Source: http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/05/pink-dot-2010-come-show-your-support/

http://www.facebook.com/pinkdotsg?ref=mf

Ng Teck Siong Press Conference, 10 Apr 10

Mr Ng Teck Siong, former Chairman of the Reform Party, intends to provide a formal response concerning remarks recently made by Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam that implied the Reform Party was an empty vessel devoid of leadership when Mr Jeyaretnam took over as Secretary-General last year.

Mr Ng Teck Siong intends to hold a press conference at Speaker’s Corner on Saturday evening (10 Apr) to make a public statement.

Details will be announced as soon as they are available.

Source: http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/04/former-rp-chairman-refutes-kenneth-jeyaretnams-claims/

Lobby Mcdonalds to restore the PIG; 16 Jan 2010

At Hong Lim Park Speakers Corner, a time slot was reserved for the support to get Mcdonalds to restore back the PIG to its rightful place in the Zodiac.
Please come to support. Bring your banners, posters or displays.


Date: 16 Jan 2010, Saturday.
Time: 2pm to 3pm.
Organiser: Thinkingloud
Source: ST Discussion Board, http://comment.straitstimes.com/showthread.php?p=386434
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ST Singapore
Jan 9, 2010
McDonald's pulls pig toy
Its move in omitting pig character from zodiac animal set irks Chinese
By Leow Si Wan & Chuang Bing Han

Instead of a pig, a Cupid (third from right) completes the line-up of 12 soft toys in the McDonald's Doraemon collection for Chinese New Year. -- ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

FAST-FOOD giant McDonald's has stirred up a controversy by omitting pig characters from its latest toy promotions.

The pig soft toy was expected to have been part of a 12-character Doraemon set depicting the animals of the Chinese zodiac calendar. Customers wanting the toy would have to pay $2 on top of making a food purchase.

But McDonald's decided not to include the pig toy to avoid offending Muslim customers, and had a Doraemon Cupid toy in its place instead.

The move has upset Chinese customers keen on collecting all 12 toys in the series. One of them, staff nurse Daphne Koh, 26, said: 'I was born in the Year of the Pig and would have collected the whole set. But without the pig, it makes no sense for me to do so.'

Retiree May Liaw, 55, who had wanted to buy a set to decorate her home for Chinese New Year, said: 'It is strange to have Cupid in place of the pig. The set is incomplete and I am not interested in individual pieces.'

Various online forums are also abuzz with discussions on whether the fast-food chain has overreacted.

JBJ Memorial Day, Jan 5 @ 7pm

For any updates on this upcoming event, please refer to the facebook group In Memory of J B Jeyaretnam or the Reform Party’s website or facebook page. I will also update this blog post if there’s any news.

Update: James Gomez will be speaking at the event.

Source: http://jacob69.wordpress.com/2009/12/31/jbj-memorial-day-hong-lim-park-aka-speakers-corner-jan-5-7pm/