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 feelings of enmity, hatred, ill-will or hostility between different racial or religious groups in Singapore. On 15 February 2002, while at Speakers' Corner, Singapore Democratic Party chief Chee Soon Juan attacked the Government's decision to suspend four Muslim girls for wearing the "tudung" (Islamic headscarf) to public schools. Contrary to police advice, he chose not to apply for a public entertainment licence, arguing he did not need one. Chee's speech sparked heated exchanges involving the Sikh practice of wearing turbans. In July, Chee was convicted and fined S$3,000 for speaking without the required licence. In his judgment, District Judge Kow