Speakers' Corner, Singapore to these free speech concerns, Speakers' Corner was created as local adaptation of the Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park, London, in 2000. In a 1999 interview with "New York Times" columnist William Safire, the Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said the idea had first been suggested by the Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, but Goh felt that it was not yet the right time to set it up. The following year, the Government decided to go ahead despite its fear of potential public disorder, as the idea enjoyed widespread support from the public and civil society groups. During a Parliamentary
Speakers' Corner, Singapore a public outdoor demonstration at Speakers' Corner. The Public Order Act, intended to regulate public assemblies and processions and to introduce new powers for the preservation of public order, came into force on 9 October 2009. On the same day, the Public Order (Unrestricted Area) Order 2009 ("2009 POA Order") made pursuant to the Act declared that Speakers' Corner was an unrestricted area in which assemblies and processions could be held without the need for a police permit. Thus, at present, Speakers' Corner is concurrently regulated by the Parks and Trees Regulations, and by exemption orders issued under the PEMA