1. Sept. 1, 2014, is the 14th anniversary of the Speakers' Corner. It was set up at Hong Lim Park in 2000 to give Singaporeans a public space to speak on any issue without needing a licence or permit. But it wasn't thought of as anything much, as it was the ceding of a tiny space for dissent.

2. The Speakers' Corner was modelled after London's Hyde Park. Hong Lim Park was chosen due to its proximity to the business district and Chinatown. This was a time before the North East MRT Line was built.

3. In the early days, discussions held at the Speakers' Corner were a mixbag of ad-hoc, unfocused opinions and pet peeves. Turnout was poor, no one could hear what the speakers were saying and few or none tried to organise a proper rally.

4. Between 2009 to 2011, before the advent of social media, applications to use the place was actually falling.

5. However, the number of applications to use the venue for speeches and demonstrations has been on the rise since 2011, which is the year of the General Election. In 2013 alone, NParks received about 169 applications, almost double the 2011 low of 85 requests.

6. From the beginning of the year till July 2014, there have already been 89 applications.

7. There are rules that speakers at Hong Lim Park have to abide by, even though the venue is to promote the freedom of speech. For example, speakers are not supposed to speak about religious matters or cause hostility between racial or religious groups in Singapore.

8. But the Government has slowly been loosening the reins. Since 2008, the police have handed over the management of the space to NParks. Singaporeans are now allowed to organise demonstrations without a permit.

9. Since 2009, the Pink Dot gathering has been the event to look out for every year at the Speakers' Corner. Organisers of the annual gathering have made use of the physical space for a gathering on top of their social media traction to rally support for the the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

10. Other large turnout rallies that have taken place there include the protests against the Population White Paper last year, and those against the Central Provident Fund system this year. A small pet peeve though: The physical space of the Speakers' Corner has more or less remained the same, even though the population of Singapore has increased dramatically over the last 14 years. There have been calls to either open up more Speakers' Cornerss in Singapore, or move it to a larger venue to hold more people.

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Top photo via Wikimedia Commons

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