Ong Eng Guan (b. 1925, Malacca–d. 2008, location unknown) was a trained accountant, politician and former minister. He was the mayor of Singapore from 1957 to 1959 and the minister for national development between 1959 and 1960 while a member of the People’s Action ...
Percy Reginald Hill (b. 1888, Lancashire, England –d. 1950, Sydney, Australia) was a chartered accountant who lived in Singapore and Malaya between 1906 and 1919. He is best remembered for his collection of photographs depicting bygone ways of everyday life in ...
Iskandar Shah, also spelt as Iskandar Syah, is closely associated with Singapore and Melaka during the 14th and 15th century. He is also associated with other names in Singapore history such as Parameswara and Sri Tri Buana. His identity remains an enigma – he ...
The Central Provident Fund (CPF) is a key component of Singapore’s social security structure. It is a compulsory save-as-you-earn scheme that enables working Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents to set aside a percentage of their monthly gross salary for ...
On 30 April 1955, about 1,300 port workers employed by the Singapore Harbour Board Staff Association (SHBSA) went on strike for better wages and working conditions. The strikers included tally clerks, stenographers, storekeepers and accountants. The strike ended ...
Fried Hokkien prawn noodles, known locally as Hokkien mee, is a dish comprising thick yellow noodles fried in a rich prawn and pork stock and served with chilli and lime on the side. It is a popular local dish that has various accounts of its origins.
Medisave is a national savings scheme in which individuals contribute part of their monthly wages to their Medisave accounts to meet their personal or immediate family’s hospitalisation expenses. Implemented on 1 April 1984 by the Ministry of Health, the scheme ...
Chap ji kee (which means “12 cards” in Hokkien) is an illegal lottery that was widespread in Singapore until the late 1960s. During chap ji kee’s heyday, the lottery’s popularity spawned a system of promoters and their agents, bet collectors, accountants, cashiers ...
Launched in 1984, the Total Defence concept involves the participation of every Singaporean in the collective effort of building a strong, secure and cohesive nation that is ready to deal with any crisis. It is a concept that takes into account the small size of ...
Charles Burton Buckley (b. 30 January 1844, London, England–d. 22 May 1912, London, England) was a prominent resident in colonial Singapore, and had close links with the state of Johor. Buckley revived The Singapore Free Press newspaper after purchasing it in 1884, ...
The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) financial scandal involved the revelation of a number of malpractices at the charity organisation, including the misuse of donated funds by its former chief executive officer T. T. Durai. The scandal broke in July 2005 after ...
In the early 1980s, the murders of two young children, Agnes Ng Siew Heok and Ghazali bin Marzuki, led to investigations that resulted in the capture of one of Singapore’s most notorious murderers: Adrian Lim, his wife Catherine Tan Mui Choo, and his mistress Hoe ...
Chingay is an annual street parade held in Singapore as part of the Lunar New Year celebrations. The term “Chingay” is derived from the Hokkien Chinese term 妆艺, which means “to decorate a frame with incense and boys dressed as girls carried in processions”, according ...
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 ...
Mamoru Shinozaki (b. 19 February 1908, Fukuoka, Japan–d. 1991, location unknown) came to Singapore in 1938 as a Japanese government official. He was convicted and jailed for espionage in 1940, and released after Singapore surrendered to the Japanese during World ...
The National School Savings Campaign (NSSC) was introduced to government and government-aided schools in 1969 to cultivate thrift in students and to encourage them to save with the Post Office Savings Bank (POSB). The campaign was also part of a domestic savings ...