JULY 8 — Two Saturdays ago, I attended the fifth Pink Dot gathering in Singapore with my children, my close friends and their families. As a parent, this is an opportunity for my children to learn the importance of treating everyone equally and with respect, no matter their race, language, religious background or sexual orientation. As such, our trek to Hong Lim Park has been a yearly ritual since the event started in 2009.

And how this pink dot has grown.

From 2,500 attendees in its inaugural year, Pink Dot has seen its attendance balloon exponentially over the last five years, attracting an estimated record 21,000 people this year. Literally bursting at the seams, Pink Dot remains the most well-attended event at Hong Lim Park. Last year, people started spilling beyond the specified boundaries of the Speakers’ Corner.

Despite the growing numbers, the event is always extremely well-co-ordinated, professionally-organised and peaceful. In the last two years, it has attracted prominent corporate sponsorship and support, and over 100 volunteers are on site to help with crowd control, trash collection and emergency medical assistance.

This year, knowing that the event might attract an even larger crowd and for reasons of public safety, the organisers decided to apply to various government agencies for permission to bring the event to a larger location such as The Promontory@Marina Bay or, at the very least, to allow the partial and temporary closure of North Canal Road so as to contain the crowds.

The fact that both requests — one to secure a new event location and the other to expand the existing one — were turned down raises some interesting questions.

Was Pink Dot denied the use of The Promontory because it was deemed a political event that had to be confined solely to the Speakers’ Corner? Yet, how is advocating for greater acceptance of persons of disparate sexual orientations different from other social or community-led causes, such as the Yellow Ribbon Project, which promotes the acceptance of ex-offenders, and AIDS Walk, which raises awareness about people living with HIV and AIDS? These other causes have successfully staged activities at outdoor public spaces, including the Marina Bay area and Orchard Road.

MORE WANT TO HAVE A SAY

The broader question is whether it is timely to free up more spaces to accommodate the growing demand among Singaporeans to express their views on the kind of society we want to live in.

When the Speakers’ Corner was set up in 2000, it was a move by the Goh Chok Tong government towards greater openness. Today, it continues to be the only site where Singaporeans are allowed to speak freely in public without the need for a permit or licence, subject to certain restrictions in the interest of public order and security.

In its early days, the Speakers’ Corner was neither used often nor taken very seriously by many Singaporeans. But, in recent years, demand has picked up and the venue has become increasingly important as a space for Singaporeans to express their views and have a say in the future of the nation.

The government acknowledged this growing demand to be heard by initiating Our Singapore Conversation in August last year. It is, however, equally important for citizens who care about the kind of society they live in to start their own dialogues with each other and have the space to hold those conversations as a starting point for education and change.

But what happens when the Speakers’ Corner is no longer able to physically accommodate the number of people who want to peacefully assemble and take a stand on a particular cause?

More space needs to be created for citizens and civil society to engage peacefully and positively over the issues we believe in. Not just physical space, but also online space and artistic space.

The arts, for instance, allows a diversity of views and perspectives to be expressed and helps to widen the modes of engagement. Works of art — be it a film, a piece of literature or a play — encourage us to look beyond our own world-view and enter into conversation, rather than close off or cling to entrenched positions on an issue.

The freeing up of spaces for expression and discussion is therefore an opportunity for the government to foster a stronger Singapore society — one with more involved, civic-minded citizens who feel a sense of ownership and are invested in this journey of making Singapore a home.

For the 21,000 people who turned up at Hong Lim Park last month, this simple action of forming a pink dot was an expression of the kind of home we wanted to live in — a kinder society where every Singaporean could feel included. — Today

* Janice Koh is an actor and a Nominated Member of Parliament.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.