4,000 turn up at Speakers' Corner for population White Paper protest - 16Feb2013 скачать в хорошем качестве

4,000 turn up at Speakers' Corner for population White Paper protest - 16Feb2013

An estimated crowd of 4,000 people gathered at the Speakers' Corner at Hong Lim Park on Saturday afternoon to protest against Population White Paper which was endorsed by Parliament last week. Organised by transitioning.org, a support site for unemployed, the nearly four-hour protest saw people of all age ranges and races turn up in the light drizzle, with umbrellas and some with home-made, colourful placards and posters. While organisers put the official figure at 4,000, others compared the size of the crowd to that of Pink Dot 2013, in which close to 15,000 took part. A total of 12 speakers made up of activists and well as current and past opposition members spoke at the event, mainly to hit out at the 6.9 million population figure mentioned in the White Paper. Organiser Gilbert Goh was pleased with the turnout. He said he initially only expected 200 to show and called the protest "history-making" and the "largest protest since independence". sg.news.yahoo.com/huge-turnout-at-speakers--corner-for-population-white-paper-protest-101051153.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SINGAPORE: A protest was held against the government's White Paper on Population at Speakers' Corner on Saturday, organised by Transitioning.org. Organisers said close to 2,000 people turned up despite the rain. The intermittent drizzle did not deter the organisers, who led attendees in singing the national anthem and reciting the pledge. "I think it's the largest protest in decades. It is also the first one where anger is directed squarely at the government," said Reuben Wong, an assistant professor of political science at the National University of Singapore. "People are now more willing to air their grievances. They have been doing it on the Internet for the past few years, but it is new for them to physically come down in such numbers," he told AFP. The 12 speakers lined up for the event include young Singaporeans, bloggers, and opposition politicians. Most of them called for more consultation with the public. Lawyer Nizam Ismail called on the Singapore government to supersede the White Paper with a Green Paper. He said such a procedure is in practice in developed countries. Mr Nizam argued that the Green Paper will contain the views of Singaporeans about the population challenges, and he stressed that this was missing in the formulation of the White Paper. Former presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian argued that four rounds of the baby bonus had not solved the problem of declining total fertility rate. He said at the end of the day, it all boils down to affordability for Singaporeans to first get married and then have children. Mr Tan said it is important for a policy change on the part of the government to encourage marriage and procreation. However, he did not offer any new solutions or ideas to improve the total fertility rate. "The large crowd here shows the PAP government that they are not afraid any more, they don't want to hide behind a moniker on Facebook to show their displeasure," said chief organiser Gilbert Goh. "They are showing their deep displeasure with the White Paper," he told AFP. A spokesman for the Singapore Police told AFP that it was not monitoring the size of the crowd, which was largely clad in black, armed with clappers and clutched a sea of umbrellas. Subject: S'poreans hold protest against White Paper on Population www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1254631/1/.html Subject: Singaporeans rally against immigration www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/336255/singaporeans-rally-against-immigration Subject: Singaporeans protest plans to increase immigration edition.cnn.com/2013/02/16/world/asia/singapore-protest-immigrants/ Subject: Rare mass rally over Singapore immigration plans www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21485729