A large crowd braved a drizzle to gather at the Speakers' Corner in Singapore on Saturday in a rare protest against a government white paper on population.

The crowd began to gather in the afternoon for the protest organized by Gilbert Goh, a 51-year-old known as an unemployment counselor. Organizers lined up a list of 12 speakers, including activists and opposition party members.

Organizers said close to 5,000 turned up for the protest, which has been rare in Singapore, but local daily Lianhe Zaobao put the number of the people at the gathering at over 3,000.

Many came with umbrellas, braving the light drizzle in the afternoon. One of the banners reads, "Save Singapore -- Say No to 6.9 million," referring to a projection of the population in the city state by 2030.

The White Paper on Population, released recently by the government, projected that the population may grow to between 6.5 million and 6.9 million by 2030, from the current 5.38 million. It says that the government may need to raise the total fertility rate and have 15,000 to 25,000 immigrants per year.

The number 6.9 million made headlines. Many voiced their concerns for continuing to grow the population as it is already getting crowded on the commuter trains and buses.

The crowd shouted "No" when the first speaker, National Solidarity Party member Ravi Philemon, asked if it was acceptable to bring in 900,000 to 1 million foreigners every decade.

The government has strenuously emphasized that the number is a planning parameter, not a target. Officials also said that the government needs to improve the way it communicates with the people.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said, "6.9 million is not a target, this number is used to help us plan for future infrastructure. We will use number as reference."

Lee said the Singaporean Government was not pursuing economic growth blindly but the objective was to ensure that the next two generations could continue to live happily in society.

The government is worried about the population and wants to make sure elderly Singaporeans are taken care of. Singapore has to inject vitality into economy as well, he said.

Lee also said the government was doing its best to help low- income workers in Singapore. "Low wage workers fear competition from foreign workers, but also benefit from controlled supply of foreign workers," he said.

Lee noted that the amended motion proposed by a lawmaker sets out two phases -- from now to 2020 and beyond 2020. The roadmap is clearer from now until 2020, as the government undertakes to slow down foreign worker influx and growth.

But beyond 2020, things are still vague and uncertain, he said. "Nearer to 2020 we will review policy, population projections. Then we can decide how much further we should slow down ... reduce workforce growth rate to 1 percent or cut even further?"

"Do we see the population growing indefinitely? No," he said, adding that the resident population was going to stabilize and the non-resident population would also eventually level off.