[h=2]2nd White Paper Protest to be held on Labour Day[/h]
March 12th, 2013 |
Author: Editorial
Target 10,000 people for White Paper Protest 2
White Paper Protest @ Hong Lim Park on 16 Feb.
A second protest against the Population White Paper has been scheduled for Labour Day, 1 May 2013, which is a public holiday.
It is organized by the same organizer of the first White Paper protest, ‘Say NO to 6.9 million population’, transitioning.org. The President of transitioning.org, Gilbert Goh, told the media today (12 Mar) that he has just secured a Speakers’ Corner permit for the second White Paper protest to be staged on Labour Day.
The first protest was staged on Saturday, 16 February 2013 at the same venue, Speakers’ Corner @ Hong Lim Park. At least 3-4K people, with some estimates going as high as 5-7K (counting transient crowd) attended the first protest (‘More than 3,000 Singaporeans brave rain for public protest at Hong Lim‘). Singaporeans who were at the event braved the rain to listen to a panel of speakers addressing concerns over the Population White Paper.
The number may be small compared to the size of protesting crowds in other parts of the world, but it is nevertheless a significant event for Singapore. It was by far the largest public protest against government policy in the history of Singapore since independence. The news made headlines across the world with a number of international news agencies covering the event. The South China Morning Post even headlined it.
Singaporeans were angry that they were not consulted when the Population White Paper was bulldozed through the PAP-dominated Parliament for endorsement. 77 PAP MPs voted to endorse it. All the opposition MPs and some NMPs voted against it. But their 13 miniscule votes could not out-vote the 77 votes from the PAP camp (Population White Paper bulldozed through Parliament by 77 votes to 13). Hence many Singaporeans are calling for a national referendum to decide on this population issue which affects everyone although the PAP government remains stubbornly silent.
Mr Goh said, “There is still a lack of priority given to local workers, who have to struggle with foreign talent for jobs.”
He also said that other issues like CPF, minimum wage, retirement policies, etc will likely be covered at the upcoming event.
The confirmed speakers for the day include human rights lawyer M Ravi with more in the process of being lined up. Transitioning.org is also in the process of “gathering more civic societies to come on board.”
A statement from Transitioning.org read:
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Read more at http://www.tremeritus.com/2013/03/1...-held-on-labour-day-1-may-2013/#ixzz2NQj6G1WI
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives
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Target 10,000 people for White Paper Protest 2
A second protest against the Population White Paper has been scheduled for Labour Day, 1 May 2013, which is a public holiday.
It is organized by the same organizer of the first White Paper protest, ‘Say NO to 6.9 million population’, transitioning.org. The President of transitioning.org, Gilbert Goh, told the media today (12 Mar) that he has just secured a Speakers’ Corner permit for the second White Paper protest to be staged on Labour Day.
The first protest was staged on Saturday, 16 February 2013 at the same venue, Speakers’ Corner @ Hong Lim Park. At least 3-4K people, with some estimates going as high as 5-7K (counting transient crowd) attended the first protest (‘More than 3,000 Singaporeans brave rain for public protest at Hong Lim‘). Singaporeans who were at the event braved the rain to listen to a panel of speakers addressing concerns over the Population White Paper.
The number may be small compared to the size of protesting crowds in other parts of the world, but it is nevertheless a significant event for Singapore. It was by far the largest public protest against government policy in the history of Singapore since independence. The news made headlines across the world with a number of international news agencies covering the event. The South China Morning Post even headlined it.
Singaporeans were angry that they were not consulted when the Population White Paper was bulldozed through the PAP-dominated Parliament for endorsement. 77 PAP MPs voted to endorse it. All the opposition MPs and some NMPs voted against it. But their 13 miniscule votes could not out-vote the 77 votes from the PAP camp (Population White Paper bulldozed through Parliament by 77 votes to 13). Hence many Singaporeans are calling for a national referendum to decide on this population issue which affects everyone although the PAP government remains stubbornly silent.
Mr Goh said, “There is still a lack of priority given to local workers, who have to struggle with foreign talent for jobs.”
He also said that other issues like CPF, minimum wage, retirement policies, etc will likely be covered at the upcoming event.
The confirmed speakers for the day include human rights lawyer M Ravi with more in the process of being lined up. Transitioning.org is also in the process of “gathering more civic societies to come on board.”
A statement from Transitioning.org read:
“We hope that Singaporeans who are passionate about the issues that affect their everyday living will come out again in full force… They don’t have to complain behind their keyboards or wait for election rallies every five years, to gather peacefully as a united force against policies that they dislike.”
Mr Goh has disclosed to TR Emeritus (TRE) that he hopes to hit a target of 10,000 people for White Paper Protest 2.
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Read more at http://www.tremeritus.com/2013/03/1...-held-on-labour-day-1-may-2013/#ixzz2NQj6G1WI
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives
Follow us: TREmeritus on Facebook
