Jeya blasts Singapore free speech, decentralization plans

Mr. Jeyaretnam, secretary-general of the Workers' Party and a veteran government critic said it was wrong for the world to believe that Singapore was opening up because the government was, in fact, putting more control over the people here.

"We need to set the record straight and remind Singaporeans particularly and the world outside what it is that the PAP is really proposing," he told reporters, referring to the People's Action Party, the ruling party that has dominated the Singapore government for more than 40 years.

He criticized Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong's remarks in a recent interview with Britain's Financial Times that Singapore could have its own free-speech areas, similar to London's Hyde Park.

"To say that this is the Hyde Park in Singapore is an insult to the Hyde Park in London," Jeyaretnam said, adding that the Hyde Park in London was not set up by a government directive.

"It's a real mockery -- the whole thing about Hyde Park corner," he added.

"There was no licenses needed for those wanting to speak at Hyde Park corner, and there were no restrictions," he said.

Goh said Singapore would soon designate an area here as a "Speakers' Corner" to give the people a chance to say anything they want, within limits of the law.

Under the plan, it would only be open to Singaporeans and not foreigners, and speakers will need to apply for a permit from the Public Entertainment Licensing Unit.

"If we apply for a license, we have to inform them what we want to talk about ... Why is licensing required," he asked.

"The PAP will not let go of control," he said, adding that for the park park to exist the government should ensure that it will not resort to its power of detention under the internal security act.

He said the government should also remove the need for police permits for any public meetings to discuss matters of public interest.

Another opposition leader, Chee Soon Juan, served two brief jail terms last year after defying restrictions on public political gatherings.

Jeyaretnam also blasted Goh's plan to decentralize the government by having four or five districts, each with a full-time mayor responsible for social and municipal services. The plan is expected to be implemented in a year's time.

He said the government's plan was "another form of battering down the people," and compelling Singaporeans to support the PAP.

Goh took over in 1990 from the iron-willed longtime premier Lee Kuan Yew, who remains a senior minister in the cabinet.