|
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| Kevin
and James talking to reporters |
Perhaps
not quite a big draw as Hello Kitty, but Speaker's
Corner nevertheless saw a Mr. Tan Kim Chuang,
registering to speak sometime after midnight last
night, for a full 20 days. That's right, 1st-20th
September and so did four other people after him!
The
police opened registration for Speaker's Corner
from midnight 21 August 2000.
By
1.30pm today, 9 people had registered to speak
at the Kerta Ayer Police Post at Hong Lim Park,
the base for the Speaker's Corner. Dr. Kevin Tan
and Mr. James Gomez, both members of the Roundtable
signing up as the 8th and 9th speakers respectively
during their lunch break.
 |
| discussing
plans for 1st September |
To
record the event, journalists from Channel News
Asia, Straits Times, Lianhe Zaobao and Project
Eyeball where "parked" outside trying
to pick-off the few who strolled in today to sign
up. Dr. Tan and Mr. Gomez were immediately swamped
for comments.
Think
Centre's reporter and photographer were also at
hand and were bolder. They went into the station
to witness the Roundtablers' signing up and even
tried to photograph the process. But out from
nowhere jumps a plain clothes police officer who
politely says "No photographs within the
premises please".
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| The
police: always near-by |
If
you are keen to speak up, the registration process
is easily enough. Enter the police post's main
door, veer to the left and press the button marked
"Speaker's Corner" on the automatic
numbering machine. Wait for your number to be
called, hand over your identity card and you will
be given a logbook. Sign in your name, ic number
and the date you want to speak. The police office
manning the counter will key the information into
the computer and generate a print out for you.
Check your name, ic number and date that you booked,
sign along the dotted line and hey presto, you
are licenced to talk, but only at Hong Lim Park.
The
whole process, with no pressing queue takes about
five minutes. But finding a parking spot around
the police post may not be so easy!
Note:
The Roundtable is organisng a Speaker's Fest at
Hong Lim Park from 5.30pm-7pm, 1 September 2000.
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