Ang Mo Kio-Thye Hua Kwan Hospital is a community hospital established in June 1993 to serve the rehabilitative needs of the community, particularly the elderly. Providing mainly rehabilitation and geriatric care, the hospital is home to Singapore’s first acupuncture ...
Established in 1985, the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) is a Singapore non-governmental organisation (NGO) concerned with issues of women’s rights and gender quality. AWARE seeks to eliminate gender-based barriers through research, advocacy, ...
Officially registered as a society in 1999, the Cat Welfare Society is a predominantly volunteer-run non-profit organisation that aims to protect the wellbeing and lives of cats in Singapore. The society achieves this through sterilisation programmes and education ...
Checha Davies, also known as Mrs. E. V. Davis (b. 1898, Kerala, India–d. 2 September 1979, Singapore), was a social worker, women’s activist and community volunteer. She was prominent in various organisations, including the trailblazing Singapore Council of Women ...
Co-curricular activities (CCAs) are a core component of the holistic education received by youths in Singapore. CCAs inculcate values and develop competencies, and at the same time foster social integration and deepen students’ sense of belonging and responsibility ...
The communal riots of 1964 refer to two separate series of race riots involving clashes between Malays and Chinese that occurred in Singapore when it was part of the Federation of Malaysia. The first series of riots started on 21 July during a Muslim procession ...
On 8 August 2011, local daily freesheet Today published a news feature that mentioned a dispute between a migrant family from China and a Singaporean Indian family over the smell of curry emanating from the latter’s home. Following the publication of the news article, ...
Estate renewal is one of the key emphases of public housing in Singapore. It enables residents in older precincts to enjoy new facilities without uprooting from existing homes, thus keeping communities intact. In addition, improving the condition of older flats ...
The Factories Ordinance, 1958 (Ord. 41 of 1958), was a piece of legislation that sought to set minimum standards for the health, safety and welfare of workers in factories. In 1960, factory workers numbered about 120,000 and made up one-quarter of Singapore’s total ...
Ho See Beng (b. 5 February 1918, Fujian, China–d. 5 December 2008, Singapore) served as a labour union leader and member of parliament during Singapore’s formative years. A vanguard in the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), Ho’s humble background and intimate ...
The Inter-Religious Organisation, Singapore (IRO), originally known as the Inter-Religious Organisation of Singapore and Johor Bahru, was founded on 18 March 1949 to promote friendship and cooperation among members of different religions. It originally represented ...
Lady Yuen-Peng McNeice (also known as Lady Percy McNeice), née Loke Yuen Peng (b. 1917, Kuala Lumpur, Malaya–d. 3 June 2012, Singapore), was a nature conservationist, avid photographer, social worker and philanthropist. Born the daughter of Malayan tycoon Loke ...
Lee Kong Chian (Dr) (b. 18 October 1893, Nan’an, Quanzhou, Fujian, China–d. 2 June 1967, Singapore), also known as Geok Kun, was a philanthropist and multi-millionaire businessman who made his mark in the rubber trade and later the pineapple, coconut oil and sawmill ...
Molly, the Mobile Library, affectionately known as Molly, is a mobile library bus operated by the National Library Board (NLB). The service began in 1960 under the NLB’s predecessor, the National Library, and was relaunched as Molly on 3 April 2008 to reach out ...
The Mosque Building Fund (MBF) was established in 1975 as a means of gathering funds for the building of mosques in new public housing estates in Singapore. Following the formation of the Mendaki Foundation in 1984, the MBF merged with the Mendaki Fund and was ...
The Singapore government has commissioned national songs since the 1980s. The early songs featured strong nationalistic themes and resembled advertising jingles. Since then, national songs have taken on a pop sensibility and become a showcase for local musical ...
The National Library Board (NLB) is a statutory board established on 1 September 1995. It currently manages the National Library, a network of public libraries, the National Archives of Singapore (NAS), as well as a digital library that encompasses a range of electronic ...
The National Police Cadet Corps (NPCC) is a youth uniformed group in Singapore supported by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Ministry of Education (MOE). It was set up in 1959 as the Police Cadet Corps (PCC), against the backdrop of nation-building to break ...
The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) was established on 6 September 1961, with Mahmud Awang as the pro-tem chairman and C. V. Devan Nair its first secretary-general. The labour movement initially represented only a minority of unionised workers. Its membership, ...
Orang laut, which literally means “sea people” in Malay, refers to the indigenous sea nomads and sea gypsies of Singapore. They were one of the earlier immigrants who settled along the coastlines of Singapore during pre-colonial days. The community typically lived ...
The People’s Association (PA) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) that was established on 1 July 1960 through the People’s Association Ordinance. Officially, the PA was formed to achieve two objectives: first, to develop ...
Phyllis Eu Cheng Li, née Chia (b. 9 July 1914, Singapore–d. 7 July 2004, Singapore), also known as Mrs Robert Eu, was a city councillor and the first woman elected to public office in Singapore. In addition to her contributions to the council, she campaigned for ...
Quek Ling Kiong (郭勇德) (b. 1967, Singapore–) is a percussionist and the resident conductor of the Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO). Winner of the National Art Council’s Young Artist Award in 2002 and recipient of the NAC Cultural Fellowship in 2013, Quek is committed ...
Racial Harmony Day is an annual event held on 21 July to commemorate the communal riots of 1964 and teach students the importance of maintaining racial and religious harmony in Singapore’s multicultural and multi-ethnic society. It was launched in 1997 as part ...
Sepoys were Indian soldiers employed within European military garrisons to provide the much-needed manpower for the defence of European colonies in Asia. The term "sepoy" is derived from the Persian word sipahi, which had been translated into the Urdu and Hindi ...
Set up in Hong Lim Park on 1 September 2000, Speakers’ Corner is Singapore’s first and only outdoor venue where its citizens are permitted to give public speeches without the Public Entertainment Licence. In 2004, activities exempted from licensing requirements ...
The St Andrew’s Mission Hospital (SAMH) was founded as a dispensary, the St Andrew’s Medical Mission, on 18 October 1913. It was established by medical doctor Charlotte Ferguson-Davie, the wife of the first Anglican bishop of Singapore, the Right Reverend Charles ...
The St John Ambulance Brigade (SJAB) is a voluntary organisation founded in England in 1887 to provide first-aid support for public events and emergencies. Established in Singapore in September 1938, the local SJAB has been rendering voluntary first-aid services ...
The Great Singapore Workout, a fitness routine under the National Healthy Lifestyle Programme, was launched on 3 October 1993 by then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong at the National Stadium. The workout is a specially designed aerobic programme of 15 steps with five ...
The Singapore Scout Association (SSA) was originally established as the Boy Scouts Association of Singapore on 2 July 1910, two years after the launch of the Scout Movement in Great Britain by Robert Baden-Powell. The idea of starting a local branch of the movement ...