Releasing details yesterday, officers from the Police and the National Parks Board (NParks) held out the promise of less regulation and monitoring.
For a start, NParks will take over the administration of the venue from the Police. Demonstrators need not pre-apply at the Kreta Ayer Police Post as is the case now for speakers. They need only to register online at the NParks website, similar to applying for barbecue pits in public parks. This can be done from Saturday.
While they need to state the topic of their demonstration, NParks chief operating officer Leong Chee Chiew gave the assurance that there would be no prior screening. 'We are not going to go through and screen...what you say and want to speak on,' he said.
The liberalisation however comes with caveats: Race and religion issues are out of bounds, as are lewd or violent visuals.
Foreigners will be barred from organising or participating in protests, unless they have obtained a permit from the police in advance. They can however be passive spectators.
The current rule limiting activities at the park from 7am to 7pm will be lifted; demonstrations can be held round the clock. Loudhailers, however, will be allowed only from 9am to 10.30pm.
There will be no limit on the number of demonstrations on any one day, as long as they are contained within the park which can hold between 3,000 and 4,000 people.
This means two opposing groups could face off at the park. 'People will need to learn to co-exist,' said Dr Leong. 'If the authorities need to decide, it defeats the purpose of having a more open system.'
Can demonstrators burn effigies of political leaders? His reply: 'We are not pre-judging anything. Just please, in burning the effigies, don't burn down our trees and shrubs.'
The Police will patrol the park in the same way they do any other area, but will take a hands-off approach.
'There will be no conscious monitoring,' said Mr Wong Hong Kuan, the Police Force's director of operations. It will investigate only if it receives public complaints.
He said that since Speakers' Corner was set up in 2000, there have been no major law and order issues there.
So far, there have been 2,144 registrations and 508 occasions of people speaking.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong first broke the news of the impending relaxation in his National Day Rally address two Sundays ago.
Yesterday, reactions to the news ranged from a lackadaisical 'It's no big deal' to doubt that Singaporeans were ready for demonstrations, even in a controlled environment.
'Maybe we need to go through a course, Public Demonstration 101,' said Mr Jolovan Wham, executive director of the maid welfare advocacy group Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home).
Think Centre president Sinapan Samydorai said: 'It's good to see Singapore opening up, even if people will remain sceptical about what they see as small changes.'
