POLITICAL SPACE

As well as issuing a warning to Taiwan in Sunday night's speech, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has announced that Singapore will further open the room for political expression in the country:

New moves to make it easier for Singaporeans to speak up left civic and civil society activists almost speechless at first. 'I was pleasantly shocked,' said theatre director Alvin Tan, after hearing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announce on Sunday that licences would not be needed for indoor talks and that the free speech venue Speakers' Corner can also have performances and
exhibitions.

'Throughout his National Day Rally speech, I kept sending SMS messages to my friends asking if what I was hearing was true,' said Mr Tan, the artistic director of The Necessary Stage.
The theatre group could consider staging forum theatre, a form of interactive theatre which was denied government funding for nearly 10 years until the end of last year, he said.

Apart from Workers' Party chief Sylvia Lim, who declined to comment, a dozen other activists said they cheered when they heard Mr Lee's plans on easing the rules to enable Singaporeans to express their views more freely.

The only caveat set is that the events organised cannot be on race and religion.

While this is still not enough of an opening to make Singapore a liberal country, it is appreciated – and it is also a big improvement over what this place was like just a decade or two ago.

More details are expected sometime this week.