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/

The Do Good Interview: Let's Go to Speakers' Corner

In case you missed it.....

The Do Good Interview: Let's Go to Speakers' Corner
Written by Low Lai Chow, on Saturday, 5 December 2009
Published in : Outreach, Community
http://www.youth.sg/content/view/7538/66/


Remember Speakers' Corner (SC) at The Hong Lim Park? Ever since the space was opened up to the public to make speechs, hold demonstrations and put up public performances and exhibitions nine years ago in 2000, SC has since been keeping a quiet profile as less and less people take to the spot to rant voice their thoughts.

One man, who prefers to call himself The Hong Lim Gardener (right), continues to support free speech in Singapore by maintaining an events calendar, Let's Go to Speakers' Corner, to keep Singaporeans in the loop on SC happenings.


Youth.SG: Why bother?

Hong Lim Gardener: Whether you regard the easing in restrictions for Speakers' Corner use as political generosity or tokenism, every channel of expression (political, artistic etc) has the potential to garner attention to issues and change public mindsets and perceptions. As such, every attempt at utilising these channels, no matter how trivial or grand, deserves some attention. Hence this blog was created to serve as a shared calendar of events at Hong Lim Park.

Who's behind this?

It's just me and everyone who cares to update me :)

Why the persona of 'The Hong Lim Gardener'? Is it a deliberate choice to be anonymous?

Yes it was. Who I am is not important. Such matters only serve to distract from what is important.

Who is the blog for?

This blog is for everyone and anyone. It is as much for the organisers of events at SC as it is for those who do not have a means to follow what's happening everyday.

How did you get started?

The easing of registration rules for use of SC has I feel greatly reduced the stigma of the “demonstration”. Having not to deal with the police has greatly shed its austere façade that probably would put off a lot of people.

Did you face any difficulties?

The blog is straightforward and nothing cutting edge in terms of design. My main difficulty would be keeping myself up to date on the latest happenings at SC. National Parks aren’t going to alert me I can guarantee you that. But it really makes you wonder doesn’t it? Why there is no published list of SC usage to be found on the net.

Have you ever contacted National Parks on that?

No i have not. But if they intended the list to be public they would have carried it on their own site.

How has Speakers' Corner changed since its first day?

I haven’t been around long enough to comment meaningfully.

I'm sure you have met the speakers and organisers from Speaker's Corner events. What type of person does it take to speak at Speakers' Corner?

It takes someone courageous or just completely mad. And quite frankly, the two extremes are typical character types of SC speakers. An SC speech is daunting as you are virtually standing there naked and shouting over traffic noises to be heard. Stage presence is therefore key.

You may close the blog in a few months' time as you are receiving very little event notifications. Why do you think Speakers' Corner events are dwindling?

There was a natural spike in usage following the relaxation of usage terms. The global financial crisis and ultimate failure of structured products around the world as brought much focus on SC thanks to Tan Kin Lian. It really proves that SC still has a purpose even in this digital age of social networks and private interest groups. It is just like how we are now witnessing a revival in the concert scene. Digitalisation of music and its ubiquitous availability online forced artists to pay more attention to alternative revenue models. Demonstrations at SC are similar. You can never have a virtual protest that carries the power and verve. Yes there has been a steady decline in its use, but that does not mean it is dead and obsolete. Like all good things, they never go out of style.

Define success.

Success for this blog is that it eventually becomes sustained by the community and not by me. LCL

Access SC events calendar Let's Go to Speakers' Corner here. Find out more about The Hong Lim Park and the nittygritties on how to register as a speaker at its official Nparks home.

Lai Chow is the editor of Youth.SG. She is often mistaken for a man, 'nuff said.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Thousands to Gather at Speakers' Corner... To Eat

Hong Lim food centre to relocate to Speakers’ Corner
Source: http://www.temasekreview.com/2009/11/26/hong-lim-food-centre-to-relocate-to-speakers-corner/

Singapore’s Speakers’ Corner will be more boisterous in the next few months not because there will be more Singaporeans speaking there, but due to the relocation of the nearby Hong Lim Food Centre in Upper Cross Street which will be closed for a facelift in March next year.

NEA said that “activities” at Speakers’ Corner will not be affected by the market’s move. Its boundaries will be “redrawn” next month.

Modeled after London’s Hyde Park, the Speakers’ Corner is the only place in Singapore where citizens can lawfully gather, speak and protest.

The ruling party decided to “relax” the rules last year to counter the civil disobedience movement launched by opposition groups such as the Singapore Democratic Party.

However, police installed CCTVs a few months ago at its premises purportedly for reasons of “public safety and security”.

Since then, the number of events at Hong Lim Park had dwindled as well as the participants.

A minibond rally called by former NTUC INCOME Mr Tan Kin Lian drew a paltry crowd of less than 200 while the usual attendance is twice the number.

Mr Tan still holds the record for the most number of rallies held at Hong Lim Park by a single person and number of participants with one rally attracting more than a thousand people.

Despite much fanfare, the authorities had ignored the hustlings at the rallies which have since fizzled out with some minibond holders remain uncompensated by the financial institutions.

The usefulness of Hong Lim Park to advance the political awareness and maturity of ordinary Singaporeans is very much limited by the general apathy pervailing the nation.

While there is much resentment and disgruntlement on the ground over some of the government’s policies such as its liberal immigration policy, the grousings are confined strictly to cyberspace.

Nobody has dared to step forward to organize rallies at Hong Lim Park to protest against the government openly in public.

The park is almost always deserted during the weekdays while it is used by the nearby Kreta Ayer Community Club for its activities on the weekends.

The three opposition MPs in parliament have been most reluctant to use the park to further their political agenda, preferring to make token speeches with little or no impact in parliament.

Speeches made there by some leaders like the Reform Party’s Kenneth Jeyaretnam during National Day attracted a small crowd of less than hundred people and usually the same familiar faces.

Ironically, Speakers’ Corner will see an increase in the crowd now with the relocation of a Food Centre there.

For most Singaporeans, food is still their primary obsession and interest rather than their civil and political rights if they are even aware of their existence in the first place.

Speakers' Corner Protest To Appeal President Obama

To: President OBAMA

Through

American Embassy
27 Napier Road
Singapore 258508
Main Tel. No: (65) 6476-9100
Main Fax No: (65) 6476-9340


Mr President,

As you grace our country with your presence during these APEC meetings, we beseech you to take some time off your meeting schedule to meet with MAS Chariman Goh Chok Tong, Finance Minister Tharman and bank CEOs to discuss compensation measures for minibond holders and investors that have lost entire life savings due to your predecessor’s failure to bailout Lehman Brothers in 2008.

A total of S$375 million (US$258 million) worth of Lehman-linked structured products was sold to 8,000 retail investors who did not have the financial acumen to understand the risks of these complicated products. The total number of structured products, which value evaporated overnight, is closer to S$500 Million. Our misplaced faith in the US banking and financial regulatory system, together with predatory sales tactics, had left us exposed to the whims and fancies of ruthless bankers and the former Treasury Sec. Hank Paulson.

Minibonds investors in Singapore have been filing complaints and lawsuits against various financial institutions, but many lack the resources to proceed with the lengthy and costly litigation process.

The spillover damage has also been hefty. Eight town councils in Singapore – institutions entrusted with funds meant for the maintenance and running of Public Housing facilities – had about S$16 million invested in troubled structured products.

The effort of some (e.g. Great Eastern Life) to redeem the original capital injection value of these products is but a drop of water in an ocean of judiciary irresponsibility. While three of the US biggest banks have exited the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) – a fund meant to save financial institutions from collapse – and handed out US$29.7 billion in bonuses, Singaporean investors are left wondering where was the Lehman Brothers Rescue?

Here in Singapore, investors holding credit-linked notes linked to Lehman Brothers had received no coupon payments (as of Oct this year) toward the end of the grace period. Yet another event of default as US banks trade TARP funds for bonuses.

Many people have the mistaken impression that investors have been assisted by the Singapore to get a fair compensation. This is the impression is forged by the streams of feel good press statements that misguide the uninformed reader.

The truth is, Singaporean investors have been shortchanged. Less than 20% has been compensated, while our neighbours in Hong Kong and Taiwan are getting more headway as 777 Singaporean investors continue to be ignored by Prime Minister Lee who declined to meet the investors or to delegate his officials to resolve this issue. Not much else has transpired as Singaporeans are ignorant of their human or contractual rights and unable to seek redress outside of governmental assistance due to years of a nanny state under the Lees.

Former CEO of NTUC INCOME Mr Tan Kin Lian had been an earlier crusader for our rights and we thank him for it. It heartens me that our plight is not forgotten and that Mr Yap Keng Ho is reigniting the spirit of justice.

A few affected investors and I are standing behind Mr Yap’s open call for resolution and invitation to gather at Speakers’ Corner. In the spirit of American’s 1st amendment, we will gather at Hong Lim Park and make our demands heard. Demands that the US be held culpable for its fair share in this debacle.

Mr President, Although you did not preside over this debacle, the current injustice is within your reach to fix.

Yours Sincerely,
Anthony Lee

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Lehman Bonds' victims must use Obama this week to make demands

Minibond & other Lehman victims should Demand Obama to RePAY during APEC
Yes! I am calling on the minibond victims & other victims to get organized and protest at Speakers Corner where you can conduct demonstration lawfully. :-) Demand Obama to Repay You, yes with US tax payers' funds and not SGP tax payers funds.

I had disagreed to have Singaporean tax payers fund or SGP public funds or SGP Banks' funds to be scooped out to repay you. This is unfair for Singaporean public interest and not their fault at all. It is bank & MAS & Minister of Finance's fault (*** Loong Son).

Your money was sucked to the USA by Wall Street Scum Lehmen Bros. The USA should be made responsible to compensate you. You should list US secretary of finance & Obama as defendant if you want to file class action lawsuit - my suggestion.

When Obama found that your angers are against him, then he will check with famiLEE LEEgime officially to find out that you had been treated so unfairly. :-)

You have to push Obama because he can kick the famiLEE LEEgime for you, if there is a person that can do it for you, it would be Obama, not that I need to flatter him at all. That's the basic strategy I am offering you, you have a chance this week to exploit Obama.

Do it within the next few days!

KengHo Yap
http://uncleyap-news.blogspot.com/20...use-obama.html

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08 November 2009

Dear Yap Keng Ho

REGISTRATION FOR USAGE/ACTIVITY AT SPEAKERS’ CORNER

BOOKING ID: DM-08112009-2

DATE: 08/11/2009 to 20/11/2009

EVENT TYPE: Demonstration

Your application has been successfully registered.

We seek your kind cooperation in helping to keep Hong Lim Park litter-free.

Please print this page as proof of your registration and bring it on the day of your activity.

Yours sincerely,
National Parks Board

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Source: http://forums.asiaone.com/showthread.php?t=24192

APEC DEMONSTRATION, 8 to 20 Nov 09

Details: For APEC-related demonstrations
Organiser: Yap Kheng Ho
Details: TBA
Source: Sammyboy.com/showthread.php?t=42570