How many people were at Hong Lim Spring?

I was there for nearly two hours. I walked around the whole park taking photos along the way. My estimate is that there were at least 5 to 6,000 people there at its peak. But I don’t think anyone will trust me because I am not a reputable newspaper like Reuter, AFP, AP, CNN or the ST.

Who is the most authoritative or suitable party to give a good estimate of the number of people on the ground? A foreign media or a local media, an interested party like the organiser or a non interested party like me?

The number of people present and quoted by the various media ranges from 1,000, 1,500, 2,000, 3,000, more than 4,000, 5,000 etc etc…. I am just a blogger, with no official credential and professional tag on my chest. And my estimate is just layman and subject to error or not as good as the professionals. But when I look at the numbers quoted by the professionals and their media, they were so silly and hilarious. Anyone quoting a number below 3,000 obviously did not know what he/she was talking about. One can guesstimate but cannot be so far off. How could these authoritative media and professional journalists or reporters get their numbers so wrong and so wild?



And bearing in mind that many are foreign journalists, not that counting the number of people is rocket science, I would rather believe the local professionals than someone from another corner of the world. This is Singapore, and we are reporting news in our own backyard, and shouldn’t we be the most authoritative on such matters? Do we need to depend on the foreigners that came from afar to tell us what to report and what was the number of people present?

On this basis, other than trusting my own estimate, I should rightly quote the numbers from ST as the most authoritative media on this issue. Unfortunately ST did not commit any number and instead quoted a number from AFP! ‘…Straits Times reported the event with the following headline today (17 Feb) – “White Paper protest draws big crowd”. … No official figures on the number of people were available as police said they were not monitoring the crowd size, though organisers claimed close to 5,000 turned up. An Agence France-Presse report put the number at 1,000 to 1,500.’ And why AFP and not another foreign media with a bigger number? AFP more credible than the rest?

This ST quote was lifted from an article in TRE. What is happening? ST did not send anyone there and needed to use a number from AFP which is as good as another estimate? Would it be better for ST to make its own estimate and let the foreign media quote from ST? After all this is Singapore and Singapore news and ST must be the authoritative source for foreigners to fall back on in a local event. If not, there is another authoritative Singapore news source, mysingaporenews that is a local source of news. : ) It would be nice if one of the major foreign news agency quote my estimate in their reports. Heh heh.

The significance of Hong Lim Spring

Has anything changed after 16 February? Was the attendance at the protest rally loud enough to be heard by the Govt? Did the Govt hear or want to hear the voices of the people, its citizens, the people that voted them to power, the people that voted the MPs to parliament to represent their interests, to speak out for them?

The 77 MPs that voted for the White Paper, did they vote because the Party told them to vote, or did they vote because that was what the people wanted them to vote for? If they are voting against the will of the people, are they going to stick to it and go along with the recommendations in the White Paper? Or would they reflect and want to reconsider their duties to the people in parliament, whether they should rescind their votes and act to have the White Paper thrown out as the people wanted them to do so?

The main issue now is about representing the people or betraying the trust of the people. What would these MPs do? What would the Govt do now that the people have vehemently spoken out against what it wanted to do? Would the Govt continue its deaf frog way, do what it thinks is right and ignore the wishes of the people?

Assuming that the 77 MPs just buat bodoh, no, we didn’t see anything or hear anything, what is Hong Lim Spring or protest all about? Was there a protest? And nothing changes, that they did not want to do anything, what are the people going to do about it or can do about it? Similarly, if the Govt continues to pursue the things it set out to do in the White Paper, what can the people do about it?

Would there be any substantial changes from the Govt following Hong Lim? Would the people rise to the occasion to challenge the Govt not to pursue what the people did not want it to do?

Would things remain the same, things as per normal, business as per normal with the Govt and the ministers and MPs going about their lives as if nothing really happen? The best part is that the Govt could simply ignore whatever happened at Hong Lim, show no respect to the wishes of the people. The Govt not only knows best but has all the power to do as it pleases.

We are Singapore…16.02 to 2016

16 Feb was not the best day to hold a rally. It was still in the midst of CNY festivities and people would be too caught up with visiting friends and relatives and having parties and feasting. And to ask them to go down to Hong Lim Park in black was not exactly a good idea when the in colour was red. Though this would not affect the other communities, it was still a drawback in terms of getting as many people as possible to the ground.

Then the organisers were quite cheap skate too. No packet chicken rice and no free coaches to bring the supporters to the site. And no goodie bags too. I am sure by throwing some money up front the attendance would definitely improve. How many Sinkies would take the trouble to be there when getting there also cost money as public transport is not cheap any more. Then there was the risk of being caught in a train disruption and not even getting there.

And of all things, the sky was threatening. It was raining and could pour dogs and cats. Many would choose the comfort of staying at home, high and dry and continue with their CNY celebration.

And many did not even know that such an event was being held. There was not an inkling of news in the main media that there was a protest rally at Hong Lim. Only the internet savvy Sinkies were privy to this event. And they could do just so much to get it across to their close friends and people close to them. The dissemination of this event was slip shod at best and restricted by having no access to the main media, the newspapers, radio and TV. No neglect on the part of the organisers of course. They did their very best.

But they came, the Ah Gongs and Ah Mahs, the mums and pas with their children, toddlers and babies despite the inclement weather. The young adults were there too. I have never seen so many Sinkies in one place for a long time. At least 5000 were there, or more. And there were many familiar faces. Bumped into several old friends and acquaintances, and practically everyone present a Sinkie. You knew, you could feel it, you felt comfortable, felt like you were back to a time when nearly everyone was a Sinkie.

Where have you Sinkies been all these years and only to show your face in Hong Lim, to be together as one people, one country and one Singapore? We have lost that feeling. We have lost that sense of belonging, that this is our country. Our daily encounters, every one other person is a stranger, a foreigner. And the media and the Govt were talking non stop about these foreigners and how good they were and how indispensable they were to our good lives. We are now a poor and pathetic lot that could not help ourselves and are dependent on these foreigners for our welfare and well being.

When will this country become a Sinkie country once again? At Hong Lim, you could sense that the people were one, together as one people, and wanted to have their country back. They knew something was missing and they had to act to get it right again. Would they have the good fortune to recovering their country and be owners once more, or it is a lost cause. They are now nearly a minority in their own country. By 2030, they will be the absolute minority and may be herded into some reservations for their own protection and their own good, so that they would not become extinct, like the Red Indians. Johore, Batam and Bintang are good sites for reservations for Sinkies by then.

It was a wet day and it was umbrellas everywhere.

Spring in Hong Lim Park

As I drove down AYE towards Hong Lim Park the sky was covered by thick black cloud. There was a drizzle and lightning flashes across the sky. It was quite threatening and I was not optimistic of the turnout for the protest rally. Who is not afraid of rain, thunder and lightning in the open?

I arrived just after 4pm and the Hong Lim multi storey car park was already full. I ended parking right at the top level, and I was lucky as the few empty lots were quickly taken up. I hurriedly made my way to Hong Lim under a slight drizzle. The rain had petered off and no more lightnings. Thank God. Maybe the large crowd already at the wet and muddy field was strong enough to chase away the dark clouds. Umbrellas were everywhere, and the noise, the roar and tremble, could be felt as I approached the field. It was filled to the brim. I have never seen so many people in Hong Lim. The crowd was 10 times bigger than the Gay Rights Event, easily 5 to 6,000 in my estimate.

The drizzle, the wetness and the refreshing air, and a people acting in unison, with one dream and one purpose, it was like spring is in the air. I was busy trying to find some good angles to shoot some pics for the blog. The light was just good enough and can't complain about the rain though a bit worried about my camera. My disappointment was not able to meet up with Fish, but with the crowd it was near impossible. Neither was I able to catch a glimsp of Patriot and the rest of you. Manage to meet up with a few RI mafias who were there too. And yes, took a photo with Dr Wong Wee Nam too.

Here are some of the pictures which can better tell the story of the Hong Lim Spring.

The White Paper jigsaw puzzle

So many things have been said about this White Paper and so many pieces of thoughts or rubbish have been uttered to justify its relevance and execution. Let me just highlight the loose pieces here and try to piece them together to see if they make any sense and what is the complete picture. Life time crisis, worst case scenario, a planning paper, political suicide, TFR, senior citizen dependency, GDP growth, good quality living, more foreigners, Singaporean core, and 6.9 population target just for fun.

Let me deal with the most important statement of the White Paper, it is a life time crisis that we are facing. Is this crying wolf or for real? The crisis mentioned so far is about a fast ageing population and a low fertility rate. So our population will shrink. Is that a crisis or a life time crisis? Many matured economies are facing the same problem. Are they facing a life time crisis? There is an international call to reduce or at least stop the world population from growing. The human race is consuming too much of the limited resources in the world and over consuming to the risk of destroying Mother Earth. A slowing down or dwindling population is not a crisis and not a crisis of a life time. The solution is how to cope with slower growth without lowering the quality of life. The perverse solution of pumping more heads to sustain growth is pure nuts. It is like having a higher dosage of drugs to keep the high.

The population decline is over a period of decades, a slow ageing process and there is time to consider all the options and solutions to manage this process without rushing into an equally difficult position that will get the country and people into an even more in extractable situation in the future. Is there a need to force the country into taking a path that amounts to political suicide? Is the ageing problem that mounting and there is no better way out except to increase the population by bringing in more foreigners? Is this the best the Govt can think of?

And it was also said that this was just a projection by the planners to plan ahead. And the 6.9m is only a worst case scenario. They want to plan ahead, build ahead and provide for the future. What happens to the life time crisis? Is there a crisis or just a planning crisis? Why are the politicians so jittery about this proposal like it is a do or die solution?

Or is it about GDP growth and in order to have growth, it would need to increase the population. No population growth, no economic growth. So must increase the population by another 1.6 million. And because of the increase, more housing needs to be built, more land reclamation, and more economic activities and more growth?  Now, which comes first, 1.7m people or economic growth or more housing and land reclamation? If there is no need for 1.7m more people, all the infrastructure for them need not be built and no need to incur the cost, monetary and environment and social and also political. Can economic growth be achieved through other means? Is economic growth and numbers the reason for all the cravings and desire for more people?

Or is the White Paper about better quality living and not about any life time crisis? The future towns will be better, more well designed with greeneries everywhere. It will be just like Sentosa and the Avatar Garden, very green and very costly, all man made, to replace the natural greeneries that were nature’s gift for free.

Or is the White Paper about strengthening the Singaporean core? There is a compelling reason to bring in more foreigners in order to strengthen the Singaporean core, in quality and not in quantity. I don’t buy that. Do you? For if such a logic is true and taken to its final conclusion, the lesser the number of true blue Singaporeans is left, the stronger will be the Singaporean core, and finally we will be left with the strongest of the strongest Sinkie core of 77 or 80 Sinkies.

The senior citizen composition in the population is a natural and transient problem and will go to pass. And the problem is not as big as it is blown up to be. The baby boomers, many are very well off, if not, they will have their CPF savings or a HDB flat to live through their last days with enough to eat. One caveat, if they are not robbed off of every savings by the hospitals and the medical professionals in their dying days. And many are working, through the years, 65, 70 and more. Many have families to take care of them. The dependency ratio is outdated in our context when personal and national savings are one of the highest in the world, and many are asset rich and can be traded off for retirement.

Where is the problem, where is the life time crisis? What is it that is real in the White Paper? Why the urgency and political suicide to pass through a paper in such a rush? A major crisis will need more time and serious considerations to ponder over what is best to be done. Looks like this crisis can wait for no time. It must be done immediately, saved by this White Paper and nothing else will work.

I have tried to put the puzzle pieces together, but they don’t seem to fit and many gaps are still waiting to be filled. How transparent is this White Paper and what is the real crisis proportion problem that the people are led to believe? Anyone any wiser?