The request has puzzled Mr Goh. He says that for all his past events at Speakers¡¯ Corner, he never had to apply for a police permit, including the earlier protest on 16 February. ¡°No one asked me to apply for any police permit regarding foreigners attending or helping to organise the past protest events we held for almost three years,¡± he says. ¡°All our helpers and organisers are locals.¡±
There are no foreigners involved in the organising of the 1st May event either, Mr Goh says, nor would there be any foreigners participating in any of the activities on that day, whether as speakers or otherwise.¡°We won¡¯t purposely ask foreigners to come by the event also,¡± Mr Goh said.
He said that he will not be applying for a police permit for the event as the rules for Speakers¡¯ Corner do not require it.
"I don¡¯t think we will be complying with Nparks¡¯ request for application for a police permit as we don¡¯t have any foreigners helping to organise or speak at the event,¡± Mr Goh said.
He has yet to hear from Nparks since he informed them of this.
He said he will, however, dissuade foreigners from attending the event in order to prevent any problems with the authorities.
¡°If by merely attending the event means you are participating then we will need a permit for that,¡± he said. ¡°We will want to err on the side of caution and ask foreigners not to attend the event altogether to prevent any misunderstanding with the law.¡±
The rules for Speakers¡¯ Corner were relaxed in 2008, to allow for demonstrations and to do away with police approval for activities held there, except those to do with race or religious issues. Subsequently, there were events held at the park to support foreign causes too C such as in 2009 when Singaporeans and Burmese nationals - who showed up in the hundreds - held a vigil there calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
In his first National Day Rally speech in August 2004, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke of letting ¡°a hundred flowers bloom¡± at Speakers¡¯ Corner:
¡°They want to turn the flowers down, go ahead. I mean, free expression as long as you don't get into race and religion and don't start a riot. It's a signal C speak, speak your voice, be heard, take responsibility for your views and opinions.¡±
Almost 10 years on, however, it seems the rules are still unclear on what kinds of flowers are allowed to bloom there.
In the meantime, for the event on 1 May, Mr Goh is confident that it will attract just as enthusiastic a response from Singaporeans as the first one in February. It will proceed as planned, he said.
