Following the Prime Minister’s rally speech easing up (slightly) on political films, outdoor demonstrations are now allowed. It’s a baby step forward, but nevertheless, good news.

WHAT’S NEW

As usual, people will react differently. I append some of the reactions here:

EXPAND IF SUCCESSFUL

‘I’m glad that they (the Government) have put their money where their mouth is. But I wish to see public demonstrations extended to the rest of Singapore. If nothing bad happens in the next two or three years, they should start expanding it, incrementally, to the whole country.’

Activist Choo Zheng Xi, who runs the The Online Citizen blog

NOT A BIG DEAL

‘It’s no big deal. It is actually enshrined in our Constitution, the freedom of speech and expression. So it should have been there in the first place.’

Mr Yaw Shin Leong, organising secretary of the Workers’ Party

IT’S JUST A TOKEN GESTURE

‘The liberalisation to allow public demonstrations but confined to Speakers’ Corner is not meaningful. The details on the new rules are just icing on the cake. I do not intend to dignify the tokenism. Why should we be shunted to Speakers’ Corner? As citizens, we will do what we want, where we want. There are no excuses to shunt us into a quarantine.’

Gay rights activist Alex Au

I think it’s a good step forward (albeit a small step).Frankly, even if they don’t relax the rules on outdoor demos, it doesn’t matter, as seeing how people are actively engaging each other in online forums and blogs. So, it is a clever move on their part to “concede” a little. I hope, like Mr Choo, that the boundaries be extended wider. After all, like what Mr Yaw said, it should have been there in the first place.

I am somewhat apprehensive of what Mr Aw said - “as citizens, we will do what we want, where we want“. I am of the Durkheim school of thought that human beings had a built-in insatiability, one only restrained by social institutions. Individuals need groups and rules - in their absence you got egoism and anomie, linked in Durkheim’s study to higher suicide rates. The more choice and the more uncertainty, the more anomie, whether economic, religious or familial.

Also, for a nation not used to such unbridled freedom, a sudden lack of boundary might lead to a kneejerk reaction not entirely welcome.

Baby steps..

So, I think it is something that should have been there in the first place. But I do not agree that it is mere tokenism. It’s probably reached a point where we make noise when they don’t and it’s tokenism when they do. Let’s not become a nation of complainers, nitpickers and whiners.

After all, Speakers’ Corner could have remained a joke, you know. Let’s be happy for the little changes, and voice out for bigger ones.