Singapore Climate Rally inspired by Swedish activist

singapore climate rally
Public protests are allowed in Hong Lim Park. Pictured is a previous rally held in the park. Photo: Raymond Lau on Flickr.

Since Swedish Greta Thunberg called for more ambitious climate action in Sweden by skipping school last year, many have felt inspired by the teen. Among them, a group of about 15 Singaporean activists who are now organising a climate rally on 21 September 2019 in Hong Lim Park in Singapore according to the Singaporean news site Straits Times.

This is not the first time Singapore stands up for the climate. However, the September-event will be the first physical gathering in a call for greater climate action in Singapore.

Earlier this year in March, people in Singapore shared their thought on how climate change should be adressed by politicians and businesses under the hashtags #climatestrike and #climateactionsg.

“It requires extra commitment for people to show up for a physical event,” said 19-year-old Lad Komal Bhupendra, initiator of the event and year 2 student at National University of Singapore (NUS).

“And we hope that this would send a stronger signal to the authorities, to businesses and to the Singaporean public, that climate change is everyone’s fight.”

A political issue

The organisers have deliberately planned the physical event for a Saturday hoping it will make attendance more attractive.

“By holding it on a Saturday, we hope many more Singaporeans can join us. We want to stand in solidarity with all in Singapore who care about the climate crisis, and recognise that this is a political issue,” one of the organisers and student at Yale-NUS, 20-year-old Annika Mock, told the Straits Times.

Apart from speeches, attendees can look forward to write notes for representatives of Parliament and other government officials urging them to take action against climate change.

There will also be a so-called “die-in”, in which participants must gather in the shape of a spiral and collapse inward like domino tiles. The idea behind a die-in is for the participants to appear dead as part of a protest. In this case the aim is to symbolise the lives of humans and biodiversity claimed by global warming.

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