Singapore's civil society has been given a mention in this year's National Day Rally speech so that the local media can play it up as an area of significant policy change.

At the same time civil society groups need to be aware that their demands for greater freedom may be subverted by referring to this latest proffering of 'freedoms' as evidence that there is space for a vibrant civil society. That is, if an effective reply is not offered.

Announcements made on 22 August 2004 that all indoor talks can now be held without a licence from the police and that people can now hold performances and exhibitions at the Speakers' Corner without having to apply for a licence will mean a few things, only a few things.

Impact on civil society groups

Gay groups can now organise their indoor meetings, which hitherto has been prevented by the licensing authorities. If need be, they can even have exhibitions at the Speakers' Corner.

However, one cannot expect such activities to translate to political change in Singapore. Don't be surprised if these groups are prevented from taking advantage of these changes once again, on arguments of morality. Some testing needs to be done before a verdict can be passed.

Secondly, the Think Centre which has used doll displays on a number of occasions to promote human rights issues, can now display its dolls outside in the open without a permit, but only at the Speakers' Corner. Not anywhere else, at least not without a permit.

The centre can also organise talks on human rights and other related issues without applying for a permit, but these activities will not deliver political change at the electoral level. That requires changes to another set of rules and certainly the rise of a different set of actors.

Even with the present changes, warnings have been issued that these privileges may be restricted if they touch on 'sensitive issues such as race and religion'. However, this is to ignore that historically civil society disputes in Singapore and Malaysia have been precisely over these issues.

To claim to be a multi-cultural society, yet restrict civil rights to talk about race and religion is rather ironic. What this means in real terms is that the issue of Malay/Muslims in Singapore will not likely be allowed an independent and spontaneous airing.

Collectively, these announcements are silent on freedom of assembly in public places, freedom of association for gay groups and the use of microphones at the Speaker's Corner.

Impact on licensing

These changes on licensing for indoor talks will be a respite for the small licensing division within the Singapore Police Force. For one, there will be an absence of paper work for both the applicant as well as the licensing authorities. The small processing fee will also no longer apply.

For the licensing division this will also mean that they no longer have to suffer the pressure of dealing with civil society groups and requests for information as to why licences for certain talks are denied. They will also have to deal less with the 'backroom' which vets the application for political talks.

For the police, it remains to be seen how they will respond to these changes at the precinct level. Previously, when political meetings were organised and licences were approved, plain clothes policemen from the relevant precincts would attend and audit such talks.

With this new ruling, it not yet clear whether this will continue. Nevertheless, organisers of public indoor talks can invigilate on their own if their activities are still monitored by plain clothes policemen.

The licensing changes will also have on an impact on the Societies Act that currently places restrictions on meetings organised by certain societies. Previously, indoor talks were restricted to members only and later expanded to named invitees only.

With these licensing changes it would mean that technically such groups can now organise public meetings without restrictions unless otherwise proscribed.

Singapore's conservative civil society

Many civil society actors in Singapore are cut from the same conservative cloth as the majority of Singaporeans. Hence, to expect civil society to bring about political change in Singapore, in view of these simple licensing changes, is either to expect too much or to be a tad nave.

Because civil society by nature is conservative in Singapore, the recent changes to freedom of expression rules do not go far enough for civil society groups to be bold and effective.

Apart from pursuing largely singular issues, civil society groups tend to be apprehensive by nature, when it comes to engaging in anything beyond their ambit.

Furthermore, they tend to overtly worry about being labeled 'political'. The most recent amendment to the Society's Act in 1999 that grants the minister the power to designate an organisation 'political' does not make it easier for them.

Thus, civil society groups are reluctant to take on the bigger political process by working laterally as a united movement, with other groups. To expect them to do so and to be disappointed that they do not is also nave.

A media ploy

Effective change at the political level is still very much dependent on the relationship between civil society and political parties. Without this relationship, civil society will only be penultimate in the political process.

If anything these announcements seem nothing more than an attempt to provide the local media with an angle on the national day rally that highlights civil society as a significant policy announcement area.

But I think Singapore's civil society would not mind, they will take anything they can to make doing their thing a little easier.

This is a final part in a 12-series article.

More articles in the 'A new Singapore?' series

JAMES GOMEZ is the coordinator of the Monash Asia Institute's Singapore Studies project on civil society.

In the past two weeks, malaysiakini has published a 12-part series by different writers on the challenges facing Singapore as new leader Lee Hsien Loong takes the helm. These articles are edited by James Gomez, coordinator of the Monash Asia Institute's Singapore Studies project on civil society.