Tan Teck Soon (b. 1859, Singapore–d. 25 November 1922, Singapore) was a Chinese scholar and writer active in Singapore at the turn of the 20th century. He was a founding member of the influential gentlemen’s debating club known as the Straits Philosophical Society ...
The Eurasian community is a small but influential ethnic group that has been present in Singapore since the early 19th century. Eurasians are persons with mixed European and Asian lineage. Most Eurasians in Singapore can trace the European part of their ancestry ...
Tuberculosis, commonly known as TB, is an infectious disease caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacterium. It spreads from person to person via airborne respiratory droplets from an infected person, and primarily affects the lungs. In the 19th century, Singapore’s ...
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 ...
The Southeast Asia (SEA) Collection is a significant collection of the National Library. It includes the Ya Yin Kwan Collection, the Rost Collection, the Gibson-Hill Collection and a wide range of early-19th-century literature. Its most valuable titles come from ...
As its name suggests, Little India is the heart of Singapore’s Indian community. Bordered by Selegie Road and Lavender Street, Little India’s main stretch of commercial activity can be found along Serangoon Road, which was labelled “Road leading across the Island” ...
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 Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA) provides an opt-out organ donation system that allows for the removal of kidneys, livers, hearts and corneas from deceased Singapore citizens and permanent residents, for the sole purpose of transplantation. Administered by ...
Hotel de la Paix was established in 1865, making it one of the earliest hotels to be set up in Singapore. It operated from Coleman House, the former personal residence of Singapore’s first superintendent of public works, G. D. Coleman (George Dromgold Coleman), ...
Joseph Aaron Elias (b. 1881, Calcutta, India–d. 16 July 1949, Singapore), also known as Joe Elias, was a successful entrepreneur and well-known personality in Singapore’s Jewish community. He held offices as a justice of peace and municipal commissioner of Singapore. ...
Trek 2000 International Limited is the Singaporean company that created the ThumbDrive, a thumb-sized universal serial bus (USB) data storage device which revolutionised the way digital data is stored and transferred in personal computers. Headquartered in Singapore’s ...
The Jalan Kubor Cemetery is the oldest Muslim cemetery in Singapore. Located off Victoria Street, it contains the graves of many prominent Malays and Muslims from the 19th and 20th centuries. The cemetery is made up of three sections: one plot reserved for Malay ...
The term Peranakan generally refers to people of mixed Chinese and Malay/Indonesian heritage. Many Peranakans trace their origins to 15th-century Malacca where their ancestors were thought to be Chinese traders who married local women. Peranakan males are known ...
The Arabs are a small but significant community in Singapore. During colonial times, the Arabs played prominent economic roles in the regional, retail, wholesale and production trades, the Muslim pilgrimage industry and real estate development. They were also involved ...
The Tamils make up the largest segment of the South Indian community in Singapore. Originating from the present-day state of Tamil Nadu in South India as well as northern Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), many Tamils came to Singapore during the 19th century as labourers ...
The Bugis were among the first groups of people to arrive in Singapore after the British established a trading settlement on the island in 1819. Many of the early Bugis settlers came as maritime traders and made significant contributions to the development of Singapore ...
The Sikh community is one of the smallest ethnic groups in Singapore and is usually considered part of the larger North Indian community. According to the 2010 census, there are about 12,952 Sikhs in Singapore. The Sikhs first came to Singapore in 1819 as sepoys, ...
Richard Eu Yee Ming (b. 29 October 1947, Hong Kong–) is the chairman of Eu Yan Sang International Ltd., a healthcare company that focuses on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). He is the man behind the transformation of Eu Yan Sang from a TCM business into a modern ...
Lim Hak Tai (林学大) (b. 28 May 1893, Xiamen, Fujian, China–d. 14 February 1963, Singapore) was one of Singapore’s pioneer artists and art educators. He was one of the main proponents of the Nanyang style of art in terms of technique and subject matter. He was also ...
Koh Mun Hong (许梦丰) (b. 1952, Singapore–) is a self-taught artist and poet, adept in Chinese ink painting, Chinese calligraphy and Chinese classical poetry. He has been exhibiting his works both in Singapore and overseas since the 1970s and is active in several ...