Shirin Fozdar (b. 1 March 1905, Bombay, India–d. 2 February 1992, Singapore) was a women’s rights pioneer. One of the founders of the Singapore Council of Women (SCW) in 1952, Fozdar was also a key figure in establishing the Muslim Syariah Court and the Women’s ...
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 ...
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 ...
The Treaty of Friendship and Alliance was signed on 2 August 1824 between the East India Company (EIC), representing the British government, Sultan Husain Shah (also spelt Hussein Shah) and Temenggong Abdu’r Rahman, representing the Johor Sultanate. It replaced ...
A Certificate of Entitlement (COE) in Singapore represents the right to vehicle ownership in Singapore for a period of 10 years. COEs are integral to the Vehicle Quota System (VQS), a landmark scheme implemented to regulate the growth of the vehicle population ...
The first productivity promotion campaign was inaugurated on 12 April 1975 by then Minister for Foreign Affairs S. Rajaratnam at Victoria Memorial Hall. As reflected in the slogan “Productivity Is Our Business”, the campaign aimed to instil greater awareness of ...
Earl Lu Ming Teh (Dr) (b. 15 September 1925, Hong Kong–d. 2 September 2005, Pisa, Italy), was considered one of Singapore’s most prominent art patrons and philanthropists. A medical surgeon by profession, Lu was a keen art collector and served on several institutional ...
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 ...
Kenneth Michael Byrne (b. 13 May 1913, Singapore–d. 14 May 1990, Singapore), or K. M. Byrne, was Singapore’s first minister for labour and law. He was one of nine ministers who made up the first cabinet of the People’s Action Party (PAP) government, which was also ...
The Singapore Sports Hub at Kallang is a 35-hectare (350,000 sq m) integrated sports, entertainment and lifestyle hub where sporting or entertainment events are held. Construction of the Sports Hub began in September 2010 and cost S$1.33 billion. Operations commenced ...
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 ...
Frederick Nutter Chasen (b. 1896 Norfolk, England–d. 1942, Singapore) was a zoologist who worked at the Raffles Library and Museum from 1921 to 1941, first as a curator and later as its director. Under his directorship, the institution was developed as a centre ...
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 ...
The Vigilante Corps (VC) was originally a network of volunteers set up by the government in April 1964 to guard key installations and protect crowded public areas against terrorist attacks by Indonesian saboteurs during the Indonesian–Malaysian Confrontation (1963–66). ...
The Road Courtesy Campaign launched by then Deputy Prime Minister Toh Chin Chye on 10 September 1966 is the first national campaign to try and instil more awareness of road safety in all road users. It marked the start of a sustained effort in Singapore to bring ...
The Central Fire Station, also known as the Hill Street Fire Station, is Singapore’s oldest surviving fire station. Completed in 1909, the distinctive red-and-white brick building was gazetted as a national monument by the Preservation of Monuments Board on 18 ...
The Singapore Club was an exclusively European, all-male club established in 1861. It admitted only the elite of society, predominantly European tycoons and top British civil servants. It was housed in lavish premises in the Fullerton Building when the building ...
Walter John Napier (b. 10 July 1857, Alderly Lodge, Cheshire, England-d. 14 February 1945) was joint founder of the law firm Drew & Napier, and Attorney-General of the Straits Settlements from 1907 to 1909, during which he was responsible for introducing a new ...
The Chinese Protectorate was established in the Straits Settlements in 1877 to address matters concerning the Chinese community. Its main functions included establishing a pool of civil servants conversant in the Chinese language, managing newly arrived coolie ...