Pinoy group in Singapore...

Organizers of a planned Philippine Independence Day event in Singapore's main shopping district withdrew their permit application, police say

SINGAPORE - The planned Philippine Independence Day celebration at Singapore's Orchard Road shopping district will not push through, weeks after it became the center of an online controversy in the city-state.

The Pilipino Independence Day Council Singapore (PIDCS) withdrew their application to hold the event at Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza, a shopping center along the famed street, The Straits Times reported Monday, May 26, quoting the police.

The police cited 'public order and safety concerns,' the Straits Times reported. The police also suggested to the organizers to select another venue if they wanted to go through with the celebration, the paper reported.

With the withdrawal of the permit application, it is not known if the group will push through with the event in another venue, or it is cancelling the planned celebration. Organizers of the event have not responded to our queries.

The group withdrew their application following the controversy surrounding the event, in which the online announcement for the planned celebration - supposed to take place June 8 - drew criticism, and even racially-laced commentary, from a number of Singaporeans.

The online critics said the group should not hold the event in the middle of a busy shopping and business district, and some also objected to the use of the term 'interdependence' and the image of the Singapore skyline in the Facebook announcement, posted back in April.

'Thuggish behavior'

PIDCS organizers were reportedly harassed and taunted online and through phone calls by some locals, and even received xenophobic comments on their Facebook page.

The issue forced Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to write a Facebook post condemning the 'thuggish behavior' of these commenters and critics, and said it was a work of a 'few trolls.'

Some also called it an 'over-reaction' on the issue, and does not reflect the sentiments of the average Singaporean.

Hot-button topic

Many saw the furor as a symptom of the country's immigration policies, a hot-button topic in the city-state where locals are accusing foreigners of taking jobs and causing a strain on public services such as housing and transportation.

Singapore's low birth rate prompted the government to grant an average of 18,500 new citizenships every year between 2008 to 2012 - helping the population surge by 30% since 2004 to 5.4 million last year.

Out of a foreign population of 1.55 million from China, India, the Philippines, Thailand and elsewhere, about 700,000 are work-permit holders employed in construction and other sectors shunned by Singaporeans. More than 200,000 others work as domestic helpers.

About 172,700 Filipinos work in Singapore, according to the latest publicly available Philippine government data. Recent arrivals are largely professionals and service-sector workers.

Many Singapore citizens - who now make up barely over 60% of the population - see the overseas arrivals as competition for housing, schools and space in a city-state whose per capita income of $54,500 masks one of the biggest income gaps in the world. - With reports from Agence France-Presse