Attended Labor Day 2014 Protest at Hong Lim Park

This blogpost is 1 week late - i'm hooked with playing Diablo 3's expansion(action role-playing game). In fact, on that day my mind is having an internal battle as to whether to go attend the protest. The other voice in my head says 'Stay at home & play to advance the storyline'.

How did i win the conflict in my mind? I finally persuaded myself that i'll go support the protest & then do a economic reconnaissance ride & see how the restaurants at Marina Barrage & Bay Gardens are doing in terms of business. Also to rest my eyes by looking further while cycling down instead of staring at a screen.

How's restaurant business at the 2 attractions?

• Marina Barrage - shopspace still vacant after previous restaurant went bust.
• Bay Gardens - Very poor business at dinner time.

You know something is wrong with the local economy when flooded with so many foreigners & yet such poor business. I looped back for home upon reaching the northern end of Bay Gardens East, thus i rode past these 2 attractions twice.

There's another labor day protest on saturday organised by presidential election candidate Tan Kin Lian(i presume) which i didn't attend. Both protests are not well publicized at socio-political sites so the turnouts were poor. However the organizers shouldn't be disheartened as the anger on the ground is still swelling with 'Fuck the PAP' graffiti at the top of a Toa Payoh block yesterday.

Turnout at 4:40pm taken from the overhead bridge. I stayed for an hour.

Being a cyclist who rode down to attend the protest, naturally my 'radar' would pick up other cyclists. I spotted 5 other cyclists who rode down to attend. If don't want to squeeze on sardined packed public transportation - just ride down.

Instead of treating attending the protest as a chore, use creativity to make it more palatable. Treat it as a scenic ride to a deserted Central Business District on a public holiday or combine it with exploring nearby places like i did.