He was intentionally late at giving his speech by about 40 mins. The reason was because they knew what time Aunty Tee Faa was going to start, it was a late call as I remember commentators at the time stating how late he was.

The trap. Set.

What you maybe are forgetting is that he must, by law, call for the rioters/protesters to stop and go home before the use of the IA. He gave that speech a couple of hours later.

The bonus was the int received from the laptops, and driving crazy Nancy crazy!