Speakers' Corner form was banned following a serious riot between Catholics and Orangemen. However, following the formalisation of free speech in Speakers' Corner in London it was decided in 1878 that The Domain would be the place for free speech in Sydney. In 'Diary of a Voyage to Australia, New Zealand and other lands' (published 1896), Robert Roberts notes that "On the west side [of a particular location] is a feature peculiar to Sydney in all the world - a preaching park. There are of course, parks in other cities where open-air spouting is practiced on Sundays, such as Hyde Park, in
Speakers' Corner, Singapore racially or religiously sensitive speech has been criticized as possibly curtailing free speech on genuine political matters and limiting the scope of constitutionally entrenched fundamental liberties. Despite such criticisms, some social activist groups remain optimistic that Speakers' Corner represents a step towards political liberalization and the promise of a wider political space. Although Dr. Kenneth Paul Tan, Assistant Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, has noted that initial cynicism was inevitable as Speakers' Corner was a top-down initiative, he recognizes that civil society activists have since actively occupied and made use of Speakers' Corner to generate