Police put up camera at Speakers'
Corner
Thursday, 23 July 2009
Singapore Democrats
Just when you thought that freedom of expression
could not become any more farcical in Singapore, the police install
a CCTV at Hong Lim Park.
Already, public speaking is banned in Singapore, a group of 5 or
more persons gathered to "support or oppose the views of any
person" require a permit (that the police categorically state they
will not grant), and even one person conducting a protest can be
considered an illegal assembly and ordered to disperse.
Freedom of expression is strictly confined to Speakers' Corner. On
Tuesday this week, however, workmen were seen installing
surveillance cameras at the venue.
"What are you doing? You cannot take a picture. This belongs to
the police," one of the workers said to our cameraman. Some of his
colleagues darted away out of camera range.
"Well, actually it doesn't, it belongs to taxpayers and I am a
taxpayer," our SDP reporter shot back. "So what are you guys
doing?"
Seeing that we were not going to be fooled or
intimidated, one of them said that they were contractors installing
the cameras for the police. Another was busy keying in data on a
laptop programming the CCTV.
Looking around there were two other such cameras installed around
the park to cover the entire field.
If this is not a police state where even a so-called tiny free
speech corner is monitored by the state, we don't know what is.
Watch video at right or
here.
http://www.yoursdp.org/index.php/component/content/article/
