Singapore
to keep records on speakers
Associated
Press. Singapore May 9, 2000.
AUTHORITIES will record
the names of those who vent their opinions at Singapore's Speakers' Corner,
and investigate those who go too far, the government said Tuesday.
``If a person says
something that is against the law, if he libels, if he says something that
intimidates people, then of course there must be an investigation,'' Ho
Peng Kee, the minister of state for home affairs. said in parliament.
The government of tightly
controlled Singapore recently promised to set up an area where Singaporeans
can for the first time speak publicly without having to get a license first.
The concept is loosely
based on the historic, no-holds-barred Speakers' Corner in London's Hyde
Park.
But in Singapore, orators
must show identification and register their names with police before speaking.
The names will be kept on record for five years, Ho said.
The registration requirement
is mainly to make sure that speakers are Singapore citizens, as foreigners
are barred from speaking, Ho said.
Members of Singapore's
tiny political opposition have ridiculed the Speakers' Corner idea, because
many of Singapore's existing restrictions on free speech will still apply
at the venue.