Catherine Lim Poh Imm (b. 21 March 1942, Penang, Malaysia–) is the doyenne of Singapore stories. Lim is an accomplished and critically acclaimed author who has published a dozen collections of short stories, five novels, two volumes of poems and even a play. She ...

The Singapore Poh Leung Kuk (保良局), or “office to protect virtue”, was established by the Chinese Protectorate in 1888. It grew out of one aspect of the protectorate’s work: controlling prostitution through registration and inspection to prevent the spread of venereal ...

Founded by “Tiger Balm King” Aw Boon Haw, the Chinese-language Sin Chew Jit Poh (星洲日报) newspaper was first issued on 15 January 1929. It was one of the leading Chinese dailies in Singapore until its merger with Nanyang Siang Pau (南洋商报) on 15 March 1983 to form ...

Seow Poh Leng (b. 1883, Singapore–d. 1942, Singapore) was a prominent banker. He was one of the three pioneers of Ho Hong Bank, which later merged with two other banks to form the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation. Seow also played an instrumental role in promoting ...

Goh Poh Seng (b. 1936, Kuala Lumpur, Malaya–d.10 January 2010, Vancouver, Canada) was a physician, poet, laureate, award-winning writer and entrepreneur. He played an active role in the arts scene of post-independence Singapore. Goh was a pioneer of local English ...

Ong Poh Lim (b. 1923, Kuching, Sarawak–d. 17 April 2003, Singapore) was one of the greatest badminton players of the late 1940s and ’50s. A versatile player with an aggressive game, Ong won numerous singles and doubles titles, including the Singapore, Malayan, ...

Ho Poh Fun (b. 1946, Singapore – d. 12 March 2018, Singapore) was a poet and writer. Her poetry collection, Katong and Other Poems, was published in 1994.

Chia Thye Poh (b. 1941–) is a former member of parliament and political detainee. He was arrested and detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in October 1966, and was not charged or tried until his conditional release in May 1989. The government attributed ...

Barisan Sosialis, a now defunct political party, was formed in 1961 by the People's Action Party (PAP) left-wing members who were expelled from the party. It became the main opposition party in self-governing Singapore. However, following Singapore's independence ...

Aw Boon Haw (b. 1882, Yangon, Myanmar–d. 1954, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA), whose name means “gentle tiger”, was also nicknamed “Tiger Balm King”. He is known for having established the Chinese cure-all, Tiger Balm, and for building an empire around it. His other contributions ...

Tan Kian Por (陈建坡; b. 26 November 1949, Chaozhou, China–d. 16 August 2019, Singapore) was a Chinese calligrapher, painter and seal carver. His paintings have a distinctive style, and have been displayed in major art galleries in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, China, ...

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 ...

Singapore Standard, also known as Singapore Tiger Standard (星洲虎报) or Tiger Standard (虎报, literally “Tiger news”) was the only English newspaper founded by Tiger Balm King, Aw Boon Haw. The paper was established in 1950 under his company Sin Poh (Star News) Amalgamated, ...

Yan Hui Chang (b. 1954, Heyang County, Shaanxi Province, China–) is an internationally acclaimed conductor. He has premiered the works of leading Singapore composers, and his international standing has inspired musicians at home and abroad. For his contributions ...

Tham Yew Chin (b. 1950, Ipoh, Malaya–), better known by her pseudonym You Jin, is a well-known local Chinese language writer. A prolific writer, Tham has written numerous short stories, novels, travelogues, essays and opinion pieces, some of which have been translated ...

Teo Bee Yen (b. 1950, Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China–) is an acclaimed photographer and philatelist. Although Teo ventured into photography only in the mid-1990s, he was, by 1998, already listed as one of the top 10 photographers in the world by the Photographic ...

Tan Choh Tee (b. 1942, Guangdong, China–) is a prominent artist known for his impressionist-style oil paintings depicting still life as well as landscapes from a bygone era in Singapore’s history. For his contributions to the local arts scene, Tan was awarded the ...

Shui Lan (b. 1957, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China–), also known as Lan Shui, is an internationally acclaimed conductor. He was appointed music director of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) in 1997 and has been credited with transforming the SSO into a ...

Liang Wern Fook (Dr) (b. 1964, Singapore) is a writer, singer-composer and educator in Chinese literature and the Chinese language. A pioneer of xinyao, a genre of Mandarin songs that is unique to Singapore, Liang’s name is synonymous with the xinyao movement. ...

Chia Hwee Pheng (b. 1957, Singapore–) is an accomplished Chinese poet and novelist who writes under the pseudonym of Xi Ni Er. Chia has won many major literary awards, including the Golden Lion Literary Award and the National Book Development Council of Singapore’s ...