HE WENT in the dead of night to sign up to talk at the new Speakers' Corner, but Tan Kim Chuang is anything but an eccentric.

Just look at his credentials. He's a Ministry of Defence and Colombo Plan scholar who has risen up the ranks in financial circles to senior vice-president at a big local stock-broking firm.

But Tan, who calls himself K C for short, told Eyeball he did not go out of his way to be the debutant.

He was just in Chinatown ''buying some barang barang'' when he drove to the nearby Kreta Ayer Neighbourhood Police Post to sign up to speak at Hong Lim Park tomorrow.

But he got there early - 11:44:40 to be exact - so he sat down at the police post and read the newspapers till midnight.

Interviewed at his Raffles Place office, Tan, dressed in an ivory-coloured shirt, black pants and dark-brown leather loafers, stressed that he was speaking in his own personal capacity.

His reason: To encourage more young people to take an active interest in issues that involve the nation and their future.

"It affects your future, so you should do it with passion," he said, shaking his fists.

That's when you notice his big hands, as he tends to gesture frequently. If not, he's spinning his shiny Nokia 8810 on the table.

An animated person, Tan said that he preferred speaking to real people face-to-face than hiding behind screens in online forums.

"Come up and speak up. There shouldn't be this fear if you have something to say," said Tan, who refused to tell Eyeball his age and insisted that the company he works for not be named.

Although Tan said that he has never written to the newspapers to voice an opinion or take part in a feedback session, he is confident that he won't come down with a case of butterflies in his stomach when the curtain goes up at Hong Lim Park.

He gives weekly seminars, so he's used to public speaking.

And with just a day to go before D-day, he has made up his mind about what he will say, and he doesn't intend to mince his words.

Top of his agenda is the deacon who was arrested for renting his place to illegal immigrants.

He can't understand why on earth the deacon was made to bear the cross, since he checked the tenant's papers, which happened to be "good fakes".

His second pet topic: Ministers' pay.

Tan wants to know why good economic performance is cited as a reason to pay them top dollar, yet the unemployment rate is not factored in as a benchmark.

But it's not all heavy going. Tan, who has some 1,000 Chinese paintings, said that the Art Museum should, for art's sake, stop collecting just South-east Asian art and expand its horizons to include other countries like China, India, Japan and Korea.

Other topics include proper translations for Singapore 21 literature and how much Singaporeans ought to value the first-generation leaders.

His fiery oration, which kicks off at 5.45 pm, will last about one-and-a-half hours, he reckons. And even if he "ends up speaking to the grass", he will not lose sleep.

After all, he has another 19 days to speak. He is booked to speak at Hong Lim Park for a good 20 days.