Captain Charles Edward Faber (b. 1807?–d. 7 November 1868) of the Madras Engineers arrived in Singapore in September 1844. He worked briefly as the sheriff and marshall of the Court of Judicature, and was also the government superintending engineer between 1844 ...
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) is a uniformed organisation that provides emergency services to the nation both during peacetime and under crisis. It serves not only as a fire-fighting authority, but also provides first-aid and rescue services, and acts ...
Stanley Toft Stewart (b. 13 June 1910, Penang–d. 9 February 1992, Singapore) was a long-serving public official in Malaya and Singapore who achieved many “firsts”. At the peak of his career, Stewart was the head of Singapore’s civil service, and after serving as ...
Singapore’s first firefighters formed a brigade in 1869, which was officially recognised as the Singapore Fire Brigade in 1888. The current firefighting force is known as the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).
Talma, Edwy Lyonet, commonly known as E. L. Talma, (b. 1 March 1874, Barbados – d. 6 July 1930, Singapore) first came to Malaya in November 1896 and held various appointments in the Malayan Civil Service.
On 28 September 2011, a fire broke out at an oil refinery owned by Royal Dutch Shell on Pulau Bukom. The blaze began near a system of pipelines carrying various petroleum products and lasted for 32 hours before being extinguished. The Singapore Civil Defence Force ...
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 ...
In May 1987, the Ministry of Home Affairs arrested 16 people under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for their involvement in a “Marxist conspiracy”. They were detained without trial for between one month and three years. Tan Wah Piow, a former University of Singapore ...
On 12 March 1927, a clash in the Kreta Ayer neighbourhood between police and Kuomintang (KMT) supporters revealed the strength of leftist influence on the local Chinese population. A memorial service to mark Sun Yat Sen’s death was followed by a procession of Chinese, ...
The Hokkien-Teochew Riots, also known as the Great Riots of 1854 or the Five Catties of Rice Riots, began on 5 May 1854. The riots stemmed from conflicts between the Hokkien and Teochew communities in Singapore. It was also suggested that secret societies were ...
Established in 1970 as the Presidential Council, this government body was renamed Presidential Council for Minority Rights (PCMR) in 1973 to better reflect its role. The council’s main function is to examine all legislation in Singapore to ensure they are not discriminatory ...
The Chinese Post Office Riots of 15 December 1876 were a series of violent protests by the local Chinese community to demolish a new post office established by the colonial government to handle letters and remittances sent to China. The perpetrators of the riots ...
The Maria Hertogh riots were a severe outbreak of violence that took place in Singapore between 11 and 13 December 1950 over the custody lawsuit of Maria Hertogh. The riots left 18 dead and 173 injured, as well as a reported 72 vehicles burnt, 119 vehicles damaged, ...
In the midst of World War I, on 15 February 1915, the Right Wing (Rajput) of the 5th Light Infantry (Indian Army) which was stationed in Singapore, revolted, killing more than 40 British officers, British residents and local civilians. The mutiny was originally ...
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 ...
The Anti-Catholic riots were the culmination of a series of disputes between members of the Chinese immigrant community who had converted to Roman Catholicism and those who had not. The disturbance began on 15 February 1851, when members of various Chinese secret ...
Dismissed workers of the Hock Lee Amalgamated Bus Company went on strike from 25 April 1955. Joined by supporters and Chinese middle school students, these strikers picketed the bus depot and disrupted bus services. Police were called in to disperse the crowds ...
Singapore’s earliest attempt to introduce compulsory conscription was in 1952. The endeavour was unsuccessful as it was vigorously resisted by Chinese middle school students and their parents, who did not see the need to support the British colonial government’s ...
The Staff Training Institute was set up in 1971 by the government for the training of civil servants in order to enhance the efficiency of the public sector. The establishment of the institute marked an important milestone in the training of civil servants in ...
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Transport. Set up on 1 September 1984, the mission of this statutory board is to develop Singapore into an international aviation hub. The board’s responsibilities include ...