Pink Dot SG
Encyclopedia
Pink Dot SG is a non-profit movement started by a group of disparate individuals. Dr. Roy Tan, a medical practitioner with an interest in the archiving of LGBT community history, wanted to take advantage of the liberalisation of rules governing activities that could be conducted at Speakers’ Corner, Hong Lim Park., and initially planned to stage a traditional gay pride parade in Nov 2008.
(May 15) and the International Day Against Homophobia
(May 17).
An estimated 2,500 people participated in the inaugural Pink Dot event.
at Hong Lim Park since the latter's inception. It was given extensive coverage in the international and local media.
Volunteers formed the crucial backbone of the operation, with over 60 taking up a range of tasks from photography to crowd control. The event’s piece de resistance, the formation of the titular Pink Dot, was preceded by 2 smaller formations by several dozen people of the words ‘LOVE’.
Finally, the afternoon’s highlight took place with more than 2,000 people coming together to form the giant Pink Dot, marking a milestone for the LGBT community, and making for a great photo opportunity that would gain the event international awareness.
Media coverage was garnered locally in The Straits Times
, and TODAY newspaper, which came as a pleasant surprise given the prevailing media gag on positive portrayals of homosexuality. The event also received significant international coverage from the BBC and the New York Times with reports being syndicated to various publications around the world through wire services Associated Press
, Reuters
and Agence France-Presse
.
Singapore.http://sphreg.asiaone.com/RegAuth2/stpLogin.html?goto=http%3A%2F%2Fsphauth.asiaone.com%2Famserver%2Fcdcservlet%3FTARGET%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.straitstimes.com%253A80%252FLife%25252521%252FLifeArts%252FStory%252FSTIStory_682728.html%26RequestID%3D21386%26MajorVersion%3D1%26MinorVersion%3D0%26ProviderID%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.straitstimes.com%253A80%252Famagent%26IssueInstant%3D2011-06-24T11%253A36%253A39Z]
On18 June, over 10,000 people thronged Hong Lim Park to form Pink Dot, the largest turnout at Speakers' Corner to date. The event was even more widely reported in the mainstream media than in the previous year, with coverage by The Straits Times, Yahoo! News
, Lianhe Zaobao
and Channel NewsAsia
.
Pre-event preparations
The official Pink Dot SG event took place at the Speakers’ Corner of Hong Lim Park in Singapore on May 16, 2009. The event date was chosen for its significance, as it falls between the International Day of FamiliesInternational Day of Families
May 15 is the International Day of Families. This was established by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1992.-Theme:An annual message of the Secretary-General is prepared for wide distribution....
(May 15) and the International Day Against Homophobia
International Day Against Homophobia
The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia is celebrated every May 17.It is coordinated by the Paris based "IDAHO Committee" founded and presided by French academics, Louis-Georges Tin...
(May 17).
An estimated 2,500 people participated in the inaugural Pink Dot event.
Pink Dot SG 2009
Pink Dot SG 2009, held on Saturday, 16 May 2009, was Singapore's first open-air, LGBT-supportive event. It established the record for the greatest number of participants to turn up for any gathering at Speakers' CornerSpeakers' Corner, Singapore
Singapore Speakers' Corner is a local version of London's Speakers' Corner, where members of the public can give speeches and engage public debates...
at Hong Lim Park since the latter's inception. It was given extensive coverage in the international and local media.
Volunteers formed the crucial backbone of the operation, with over 60 taking up a range of tasks from photography to crowd control. The event’s piece de resistance, the formation of the titular Pink Dot, was preceded by 2 smaller formations by several dozen people of the words ‘LOVE’.
Finally, the afternoon’s highlight took place with more than 2,000 people coming together to form the giant Pink Dot, marking a milestone for the LGBT community, and making for a great photo opportunity that would gain the event international awareness.
Media coverage was garnered locally in The Straits Times
The Straits Times
The Straits Times is an English language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore currently owned by Singapore Press Holdings . It is the country's highest-selling paper, with a current daily circulation of nearly 400,000...
, and TODAY newspaper, which came as a pleasant surprise given the prevailing media gag on positive portrayals of homosexuality. The event also received significant international coverage from the BBC and the New York Times with reports being syndicated to various publications around the world through wire services Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
and Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse is a French news agency, the oldest one in the world, and one of the three largest with Associated Press and Reuters. It is also the largest French news agency. Currently, its CEO is Emmanuel Hoog and its news director Philippe Massonnet...
.
Pink Dot SG 2010
Pink Dot 2010 was held on Saturday, 15 May at 5 pm. Another record turnout of 4,000 people was achieved. For the first time, it received video coverage from the local media, namely, Channel News Asia. The Sunday Times also carried an article with a large photograph of the event. Again, there was widespread interest in the international media.Pink Dot SG 2011
For the first time, Pink Dot 2011 was listed as an event in "Time Out Singapore", with a full article devoted to it and was officially supported by GoogleGoogle
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
Singapore.http://sphreg.asiaone.com/RegAuth2/stpLogin.html?goto=http%3A%2F%2Fsphauth.asiaone.com%2Famserver%2Fcdcservlet%3FTARGET%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.straitstimes.com%253A80%252FLife%25252521%252FLifeArts%252FStory%252FSTIStory_682728.html%26RequestID%3D21386%26MajorVersion%3D1%26MinorVersion%3D0%26ProviderID%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.straitstimes.com%253A80%252Famagent%26IssueInstant%3D2011-06-24T11%253A36%253A39Z]
On18 June, over 10,000 people thronged Hong Lim Park to form Pink Dot, the largest turnout at Speakers' Corner to date. The event was even more widely reported in the mainstream media than in the previous year, with coverage by The Straits Times, Yahoo! News
Yahoo! News
Yahoo! News is an Internet-based news aggregator provided by Yahoo!. It features Top Stories, U.S. National, World, Business, Entertainment, Science, Health, Weather, Most Popular, News Photos, Op/Ed, and Local news....
, Lianhe Zaobao
Lianhe Zaobao
Nanyang Sin-Chew Lianhe Zaobao , commonly abbreviated as Lianhe Zaobao , is the largest Singapore based Chinese-language newspaper with a daily circulation of about 176,000. Published by Singapore Press Holdings , it was formed on March 16, 1983 as a result of a merger between Nanyang Siang Pau and...
and Channel NewsAsia
Channel NewsAsia
Channel NewsAsia is an English language pan-Asian news network based in Singapore and owned by MediaCorp. Started on 1 March 1999 based in Singapore by Television Corporation of Singapore, it was launched internationally on 12 February 2001 as the international broadcasting arm of Channel...
.