It seems that the 28th July Night Cycling event mentioned in my previous post on the Young PAP calendar is no longer there, and it also looks like the entry for their Amazing Race scheduled for 1st October 2007 in Hong Kah has also been removed.
That's too bad. I am sure many wanted to participate. Not like those Workers' Party organised events, so political kind.
Here is a screenshot of the original calendar (close up), in case you need a reference.
Update: Canned events not due to WP ban: Young PAP
Straits Times, 7th Sept, 2007
A MOVE by Young PAP (YP) to drop two outdoor events from its calendar has invited online talk that it was prompted by what happened to the Workers’ Party recently.
But that is not true, two PAP MPs, who are advisers to the YP, told The Straits Times yesterday.
Recently, the WP’s plan to hold a mass cycling event at East CoastPark to mark its 50th anniversary was scuppered after police rejected its permit application. Political parties are not allowed to hold outdoor activities.
Yesterday, Sembawang GRC MP Lim Wee Kiak said that while it is true that the YP had put up on its calendar a night cycling event on July 28, it was canned because of poor response from residents. Also, it was not actually organised by the YP.
The second YP event, a Children’s Day activity done in Amazing Race-style has been postponed for ‘practical reasons’, said Hong Kah GRC MP Zaqy Mohamed.
‘Our main concern was manpower, as we’d be too tied up with other YP events and dialogues taking place around that time,’ he said, adding that these dialogues were to discuss the latest CPF measures.
The rejection of a permit for the WP event was revealed in Parliament last month by Non-Constituency MP and WP chairman Sylvia Lim, who asked for a reason.
Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs Ho Peng Kee replied that outdoor gatherings by parties are banned because they have the potential to cause public disturbance. The policy applies to all political parties.
This week, two bloggers pointed out that the Young PAP had listed the July 28 and Oct 1 outdoor activities on its website. And yesterday, one of them, Mr Brown, put up a posting to say that the events had been taken down.
But a ‘mix-up had occurred’, said Dr Lim, who takes care of Canberra ward.
The cycling activity had been organised by the Canberra ward’s youth executive committee, a grassroots group. But some of its members, who also belong to the YP, had posted it on the YP website.
‘There was some misunderstanding. I think some are not aware that political parties cannot organise outdoor activities without a permit,’ said Dr Lim.
The Amazing Race event in Hong Kah GRC, however, was organised by Young PAP members, said Mr Zaqy.
But he noted that the decision to postpone it came before last month’s Parliament sitting. The organising committee had not applied for a permit or sent out invitations.
It has also not decided when the event will be held, he said.
‘But the police decision sends a clear signal to us on where the boundaries are. I will leave it to the YP to decide how they want to proceed.’
