• Singapore’s first National Day celebrations

      In 1966, Singapore celebrated its 9 August National Day for the first time. It was a week-long string of festivities that included a big parade, fireworks displays, cultural shows, and dinner parties. It was actually Singapore’s second National Day. The very first ...

    • Singapore's first motorcycle trip around the world

      Michael and Sonya Fong were Singapore's first couple to set out on a world motorcycle trip, which they called "Baby Quek's Big Adventure", on 17 September 1995. They travelled for nearly two years, returning on 14 May 1997. Riding their 1,000 cc BMW motorcycle, ...

    • Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games

      Singapore hosted the inaugural Youth Olympic Games (YOG) from 14 to 26 August 2010. During the event, an estimated 3,600 athletes from 205 countries, aged between 14 and 18 years, competed in 26 various sports events. The Games involved some 20,000 local and international ...

    • First subscription television channel

      On 2 April 1992, the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) launched the first subscription television channel in Singapore through its subsidiary, Singapore CableVision. Named NewsVision, the subscription channel was a 24-hour news service. It showed mainly ...

    • Antarctica 2000 expedition

      At 4 am on 31 December 1999, four members of the Antarctica 2000 expedition team arrived at the South Pole after an arduous 1,125-kilometre trek, becoming the first Singapore team to do so. Upon reaching the South Pole, they unfurled the Singapore national flag. ...

    • World's first separation of adult Siamese twins in Singapore

      Iranian twin sisters, Laleh and Ladan Bijani, were the world’s first adult Siamese twins to undergo surgical separation. The 52-hour marathon operation began on 6 July 2003 at Raffles Hospital in Singapore. However, 29-year-old twins, who were born conjoined at ...

    • Nicoll Highway

      Nicoll Highway stretches westward from Mountbatten Road across the mouth of Kallang River over Merdeka Bridge down to the city centre, where it joins Connaught Drive and Stamford Road. It was built in the 1950s to alleviate frequent traffic jams on the often congested ...

    • Singapore’s separation from Malaysia

      On 9 August 1965, Singapore separated from Malaysia to become an independent and sovereign state. The separation was the result of deep political and economic differences between the ruling parties of Singapore and Malaysia. Even before the proclamation of the ...

    • Singapore Joins the United Nations

      Singapore became the 117th member state of the United Nations (UN) on 21 September 1965. This was an important milestone for the country as membership in the UN conferred international recognition of Singapore as a sovereign and independent state. On the occasion, ...

    • Haresh Sharma

      Haresh Sharma (b. 1965, Singapore–) is the resident playwright of The Necessary Stage, Singapore. A critically-acclaimed playwright known for his socially-conscious plays, he has written more than 100 plays that have been staged in Singapore and abroad, such as ...

    • Federation of Malaysia

      The Federation of Malaysia was formed following the merger of the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak on 16 September 1963. Then Prime Minister of Malaya Tunku Abdul Rahman was initially resistant to the idea of Singapore joining Malaysia. ...

    • Indonesia–Malaysia Confrontation

      The Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, or Konfrontasi, lasted from 1963 to 1966. The conflict was an intermittent war waged by Indonesia to oppose the formation and existence of the Federation of Malaysia. It was marked by a breakdown in political, economic and ...

    • 1959 Legislative Assembly General Election

      On 30 May 1959, a General Election was held to elect 51 members for the Legislative Assembly. A total of 194 candidates from more than 10 political parties contested for the seats. In the end, the People’s Action Party (PAP), led by Lee Kuan Yew, was voted into ...

    • Merdeka talks

      In 1955, Singapore was granted partial internal self-government under the Rendel Constitution. The Legislative Assembly election held in April that year saw the formation of the Labour Front-Alliance government with David Marshall as the first chief minister of ...

    • Nanyang University’s student activism

      On 27 June 1964, 52 students were arrested in a massive pre-dawn crackdown at Nanyang University, on grounds of their involvement in "communist subversive activities". It was the last of a series of anti-communist actions conducted by the Federal government in ...

    • Singapore Conference Hall

      The Singapore Conference Hall is located at 7 Shenton Way. Besides serving as the headquarters of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) from 1965 to 2000, it also witnessed many significant events in Singapore’s history. After extensive renovation works, it ...

    • British withdrawal from Singapore

      On 18 July 1967, Britain announced its plans to withdraw its troops from Singapore by the mid-1970s. Six months later, the deadline was brought forward to 1971. The sudden pull-out of British forces presented serious problems to Singapore’s defence and economic ...

    • Civilian War Memorial

      The Civilian War Memorial is a monument dedicated to civilians who perished during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore (1942–45). It is located on a parkland, along Beach Road, opposite Raffles City. The memorial’s structure comprises four tapering columns of ...

    • Singapore’s first television station

      The first television station in Singapore, Television Singapura, was launched on 15 February 1963. It merged with Radio Singapura to form Radio and Television Singapore (RTS) following Singapore’s independence on 9 August 1965. On 1 February 1980, RTS was corporatised ...

    • Tree Planting Day

      Tree Planting Day is an annual event in Singapore which typically involves the planting of trees and shrubs in public places like housing estates, parks and schools. The event, which is usually held on the first Sunday of November, was officially started in 1971. ...

       

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