In a city-state of 4 million citizens, protest is allocated eight square meters—approximately the size of a squash court—of foyer floor space inside a shopping mall. Singapore doesn't allow outdoor assemblies of more than four people without a permit, and uses other measures to restrict or intimidate any possible protests.
Today this was the venue for a civil society group (CSO) fighting against poverty to stage a "silent" protest at the IMF/World Bank meetings in Singapore today, highlighting the lack of scope for dissent outside the meeting.
"It's just incredibly representative that these protests are being held in the little protest node that's set aside where you're literally not allowed to raise your voice," protest organizer Sandy Krawitz told reporters yesterday. "We are basically saying, IMF and World Bank give the poor a voice, give the people a voice."
Those who have applied to protest need to have their security cards scanned for registration before they're allowed into the protest area. Highly visible are the extraordinary amount of security staff—easily equaling the amount of journalists present.
Celine Tan of Third World Network Asia commented that the objection may also hurt Singapore's reputation as a place for international meetings and conferences.
"If participants are not allowed to come into the country based on assumptions of their critical views, then that definitely casts a shadow on Singapore and its attempts to become an international conference center," Tan said. "We maintain that the meetings should be open to all."
In a press conference after the protest World Bank Chief Paul Wolfowitz was challenged by CSO's on the choice of Singapore as a venue and the continuing controversy over restricted access.
He responded stating that the restrictions were "just unacceptable" and that they would continue to put pressure on the Singapore authorities to comply with their agreement from three years ago.
He also said that the World Bank and IMF did not plan to postpone their annual gathering.
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