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 Keng Siong emphasized the twin considerations of public order and national security in multi-racial and multi-religious Singapore, finding that Chee's speech had bred social unrest. Under the Constitution of Singapore, a person who has been fined at least $2,000 cannot stand for election to Parliament for five years. As a result of the incident, Chee was barred from contesting the 2006 general elections. Other conditions imposed on a speech at Speakers' Corner were that it had to take place only between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on the date notified by the person to the police, had to be in