Laws and rules pertaining to public talks

source: various government ministry websites, unless otherwise indicated

The Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act has this clause:  

OFFENCES AGAINST PUBLIC ORDER AND NUISANCE
Assemblies and processions

5. (1) The Minister may make rules:

(a) regulating assemblies and processions in public roads, public places and places of public resort;

(b) providing for the grant of permits for holding assemblies and processions in public roads, public places and places of public resort, and the fees to be charged therefor;

(c) for keeping order and preventing obstruction or inconvenience in public roads, bridges, landing places, and all public places and places of public resort; and

(d) prescribing the punishment by a fine not exceeding $5,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or both for any act or omission in contravention of the provisions of any such rules.

(2) The Minister may by order prohibit or restrict, subject to such conditions as may be specified in the order, the holding of any assembly or procession in any public road, public place or place of public resort specified in the order.

(3) A Deputy Commissioner of Police may, with the concurrence of the Minister, prohibit or restrict the holding of any assembly or procession in any specified public road, public place or place of public resort in any particular case where the Deputy Commissioner is satisfied that the holding of such assembly or procession may result in public disorder, damage to property or disruption to the life of the community.

(4) Any person who:

(a) organises or assists in organising any assembly or procession in any public road, public place or place of public resort in contravention of any order under subsection (2) or any prohibition or restriction under subsection (3) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both; or

(b) participates in any assembly or procession in any public road, public place or place of public resort where he knows or ought reasonably to have known that the assembly or procession is held in contravention of an order under subsection (2) or any prohibition or restriction under subsection (3) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000.

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What are the Rules that the minister has made, to give effect to this law? From the Police website, found on 29 July 2005:

Police Permit 

1 Under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) (Assemblies and Procession) Rules 1989, a permit is required for any assembly or procession of 5 or more persons in any public road, public place or place of public resort intended: 

(a) to demonstrate support for or opposition to the views or actions of any person; 
(b) to publicise a cause or campaign; or 
(c) to mark or commemorate any event.

2 The following is a list of commonly held activities that require a permit:

(a) religious assembly; 
(b) festival procession (e.g., lantern festival foot procession); 
(c) religious procession (e.g., chariot procession, foot procession, foot and vehicular procession or vehicular procession); 
(d) sports-related procession (e.g., walkathon, walk-a-jog, family run, jogathon or road run); 
(e) vehicular rally; 
(f) treasure hunt; and 
(g) Malay wedding procession. 

I highlighted the word "public place" in the above. What constitutes a public place? The Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act contains this interpretation:

Any place or premises to which at the material time the public or any section of the public has access, on payment or otherwise, as of right or by virtue of express or implied permission.

This is a very broad definition. It can even encompass your Christmas Day open house if you say you will welcome anyone to your home and garden as a gesture of goodwill. The public will have access by virtue of implied permission, at the material time.

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Public Entertainments and Meetings Act, within which clause 3 says,

Prohibition

3. No public entertainment shall be provided except:

(a) in an approved place; and 
(b) in accordance with a licence issued by the Licensing Officer.

But surely, we're talking about entertainment, aren't we? Not so. In the Schedule appended to the Act, we find that,

2. “Public entertainment” includes:

(a) any variety act, performance of music, singing, dancing, gymnastics, acrobatics and legerdemain, demonstration, display or parade....

(g) any exhibition of film, or any peep-show......

(l) any organised competition at games of skill or chance;

(m) any lecture, talk, address, debate or discussion; 
(ma)   any arts entertainment; or 
(n) any combination of any of the above forms of public entertainment,

(The list is a long one from (a) to (n). I have not included all the items)

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From Prime Minister's National Day Rally Speech
22 August 2004

Participation and debate

We also need as a government to encourage participation and debate.

We have opened up over the years, we've got a Speakers' Corner, we've allowed a lot more discussion, if you read the newspapers, what the newspapers write, the columnists and the Forum page writers.

The degree of debate is much more than we used to have, or in Parliament. But I think we can go further.

So there are two things we are going to do.

One, for indoor talks, we are going to do away with licensing. Right now, if you are going outdoors or indoors, if you want to do a talk you need a public entertainment licence.

Usually it's approved. It's not a problem. But once in a while... you are slow or the police have reservations, they say 'no'. But it's very rare.

So now we've decided we are going to exempt indoor talks from licensing requirements unless they touch on sensitive issues like race and religion.

The second thing we are going to do is to open up the Speakers' Corner, where you can go and make any speech you like and we are going to say, 'Well, if you want to go there and have an exhibition, go ahead.'

Once in a while, the Think Centre say they want to go to the Speakers' Corner and they want to plant 100 flowers there - let a hundred flowers bloom.

Well, I think, go ahead. They want to water the flowers, go ahead. They want to turn the flowers down, go ahead. I mean, free expression as long as you don't get into race and religion and don't start a riot.

- Straits Times, reported on 24 August 2004

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This is the text of the press Release issued by the Police a few days after the Prime Minister's speech (above).

MEDIA RELEASE 27 AUGUST 2004

Refinements to the Licensing Requirements for Public Entertainment Activities

From 1 September 2004, the Police will exempt indoor public talks and public entertainment activities at the Speakers' Corner, from licensing requirements

EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN INDOOR PUBLIC TALKS 

2 Subject to conditions stated in paragraph 3 below, a Public Entertainments & Meetings licence will not be required for indoor public talks with effect from 1 September 2004. For this purpose, an "indoor public talk" means any public lecture, talk, address, debate or discussion which is held in any enclosed space and which is not within the hearing or view of any person who is not attending or participating in the lecture, talk, address, debate or discussion. 

3 To qualify for the exemption, the following conditions have to be met:

a. The organisers, lecturers and speakers are Singapore citizens. The exemption only applies for Singapore citizens. There will be no exemption if foreign speakers /lecturers /organisers are involved. If there are, a Public Entertainments & Meetings licence is required; 

b. The lecturers or speakers do not deal with any matter - 
     i. which relates, directly or indirectly, to
         any religious belief or to religion
         generally; or 
     ii. which may cause feelings of enmity,
         hatred, ill-will or hostility between
         different racial or religious groups in
         Singapore; and 

c. The talks are conducted in any of the four official languages or a related dialect. 

EXEMPTION FROM LICENSING FOR EXHIBITIONS AND PERFORMANCES AT THE SPEAKERS' CORNER

4 From 1 September 2004, in addition to public speaking at the Speakers' Corner, performances and exhibitions will also be allowed without the need for a Public Entertainments & Meetings licence. To qualify for this exemption, the following conditions have to be met:

a. The organiser and participants in the event must be Singapore citizens, and must not be serving out a suspension or prohibition notice issued under the rules and regulations of the Speakers' Corner

b.. The organiser must register, in person, at the Speakers' Corner booth at the Kreta Ayer Neighbourhood Police Post, at any time up to 30 days in advance. 

c. The organiser must:
     i. provide his NRIC, passport, or other valid 
        forms of documentary proof of his 
        citizenship (such as a birth certificate
        or NRIC);
     ii. indicate the day that he wants to hold
        the event; and 
     iii. indicate the particulars of any other 
         participants in the event; 

d. The organiser or authorized agent of the organiser must be present at all times during the event

e. The event takes place only on the date that is registered by the organiser and only between 7a.m. and 7 p.m. 

f. The event does not deal with any matter which relates directly or indirectly to any religious belief or to religion generally, or which may cause feelings of enmity, hatred, ill-will or hostility between different racial or religious groups in Singapore; or which carries violent, lewd or obscene messages. 

g. No sound amplification device is used during the event. 

h. No placards or banners are carried by persons participating in the performance or exhibition. 

i. The performance or exhibition is not an assembly or a procession as described in rule 2(1) of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) (Assemblies and Processions) rules (Cap 184 R1). 

5 The organiser must ensure that the activity does not contravene any other existing law.

OTHER EXEMPTIONS

6 We will also be exempting other public entertainment activities from the licensing requirement. Annex A provides a list of these activities which will be so exempted. This is in addition to the public entertainment activities that have already been exempted from the licensing requirement since 2001. Details of these exemptions can be viewed from 1 Sep 2004 at http://www.spf.gov.sg/licence/.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
27 Aug 2004 @ 3pm

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The above Press Release by the Police related to an amendment to the Public Entertainments and Meetings Exemption Order, which can be seen at the MDA website,
http://www.mda.gov.sg/wms.www/devnpolicies.aspx?sid=90#Exempt 

See Indoor public talks: before and after for a discussion relating to the above laws and regulations.

Footnotes

None

Addenda

None