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
-------------------------------------------------
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.