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About 5000 attended the May Day protest with 20K watching live
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May 1st, 2013 |
Author:
Editorial
May Day protest against 6.9 million population white
paper
About 5000 people were present at the May Day protest at Hong Lim Park this
afternoon (1 May) to protest against the Government’s 6.9 million Population
White Paper a second time, according to readers who stayed throughout the entire
event. The Govt has proposed to bring in more immigrants in order to hit the
projected number of 6.9 million population in Singapore by 2030.
This is the second protest organized by Transitioning.org. The first one was
held on 16 Feb also at Hong Lim Park with an estimated crowd of 4000 to 5,000.
The organizer and speakers felt that the crowd was bigger this time round for
the May Day protest. Other participants who were at both 16 Feb and 1 May
protest events also said that the crowd at the second protest was bigger.
Live streaming for the protest event was also made available for the first
time (‘
Live TV Streaming for May Day Protest at Hong Lim‘).
A total of about 20,000 people viewed the event via live streaming.
At the start of the event, Gilbert Goh, President of Transitioning.org, asked
the participants to wave their pink ICs to show that they were not foreigners,
as non-Singaporeans were discouraged from attending due to a reminder from
NParks to Mr Goh earlier (‘
NParks: Police permit needed for May Day Protest if
foreigners participating‘).
NParks had earlier told Mr Goh that he will need to apply for a Police permit
if foreigners are allowed to attend the protest event as required by the law.
The organizer decided not to and instead, posted signs at the park to warn
foreigners not to attend.
However, contrary to what NParks has claimed, a spokesman for the Singapore
Police Force reportedly clarified with Yahoo! Singapore that foreigners can
attend and watch the protests at Hong Lim Park without a need for permit. There
will only be a need for permit should there be foreigners organising or speaking
at the protest.
Speaking at the event, Mr Goh clarified that “I am not against foreigners but
we are against the policy of allowing a company to hire 100 per cent
foreigners.”
“The employment pass allows companies to hire 100 per cent foreigners, and I
don’t think this is right. There is a quota for S pass. Why don’t they put a
quota for the employment pass? They are the greatest competition for educated
Singaporeans,” he said.
Mr Goh hopes to organise similar protests on Labour Day every year.
Anti-foreigner sentiment has been rising in Singapore with many citizens
blaming immigrants for pushing up the cost of living, taking jobs away from
locals and straining infrastructure.
One of the speakers was human rights and constitutional lawyer M Ravi. He
talked about the wide income gap and lack of protection for human rights in
Singapore. He said that the government, employers and trade unions were supposed
to protect workers’ rights, but the tripartite arrangement has been
“ineffective”. He also said population growth in Singapore “increases poverty
and causes unequal distribution of wealth”, citing that the country has one of
the widest income gaps in the world. He noted that while other ASEAN member
states have human rights commissions, Singapore does not.
Wham, the executive director of
Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME), said
he had also come to realise that Singapore has one of the highest income
inequality rates in the world, and that people needed to speak up.
He opined that the poor people may not dare to speak up and make themselves
heard “because they find that it is shameful.”
He also pointed out that what poor families in Singapore need are not
handouts but “a decent wage with decent hours and decent working
conditions”.
Leong Sze Hian, former president of the Society for Financial Services
Professionals, said that Singaporeans have been told over and over again that to
have higher wages there had to be good economic growth.
He estimated, however, that during the past dozen years, over which
Singapore’s economy has grown, the real growth in the median wage excluding
employer’s CPF contribution was only 0.4 per cent per annum.
Tan Jee Say, who lost in the four-way presidential race in 2011 with the
third-highest share of vote, had harsh words for the ruling People’s Action
Party (PAP), and urged opposition parties to aim for a coalition government.
The population white paper, he said, was a way for the PAP to tighten its
grip on Singaporeans with the help of new citizens.
“If PAP has the interests of Singaporeans at heart, they will do what other
cities do in tackling the issues of an ageing population and low fertility
rate,” he said.
He clarified that he was not against foreigners in Singapore but rather the
government policy of continually importing foreign workers.
“We can understand why new citizens are grateful to the government but
gratitude is not servitude. Do not vote PAP just out of gratitude because
gratitude is about the past, not the future,” he said.
Regarding the political landscape, Tan noted that the opposition was more
ready than the PAP was back in 1959.
Lawyer and former board director of AMP who was supposed to be speaking at
the event had decided to withdraw from speaking due to allegations that he is
using AMP and May Day protest to seek political mileage for himself.
He wrote on his Facebook page, “There has been suggestions that I have
purportedly used AMP for political reasons, which is untrue. I have been an
advocate of the need for a strong civil society and a rich diversity of views
for Singapore to be resilient. This will allow Singaporeans to reconnect
themselves with the country and to feel a part of the core.”
“As a personal protest against untruths on my purported political objectives,
and to underscore the fact that I am not seeking political mileage arising from
my withdrawal from AMP and to speak at the May Day protest, I have, with a heavy
heart, decided not to speak at the May Day rally at Hong Lim park.”
Among the speakers invited to the event was PAP’s Education Minister Heng
Swee Keat, who expectedly refused the invitation.