On 18 July 1967, Britain announced that it would withdraw its troops from Singapore by the mid-1970s. Six months later, the deadline was brought forward to 1971. The sudden pullout of British forces presented serious problems to Singapore’s defence and economic ...
On 31 January 1974, four men armed with submachine guns and explosives attacked the Shell Oil Refinery on Pulau Bukom Besar, an island south of mainland Singapore. After they failed to blow up the oil tanks, the group – dubbed the “Bukom bombers” by the newspapers ...
Racial Harmony Day is an annual event held on 21 July to commemorate the communal riots of 1964 and teach students the importance of maintaining racial and religious harmony in Singapore’s multicultural and multi-ethnic society. It was launched in 1997 as part ...
National service (NS) was introduced in post-independence Singapore when the National Service (Amendment) Act came into effect on 17 March 1967. Then Defence Minister Goh Keng Swee justified the government’s decision to introduce compulsory conscription of male ...
Launched in 1984, the Total Defence concept involves the participation of every Singaporean in the collective effort of building a strong, secure and cohesive nation that is ready to deal with any crisis. It is a concept that takes into account the small size of ...
The Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) are a series of ongoing defence agreements between Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. First signed in 1971, the underlying rationale for the arrangements was that the defence of Singapore ...
Singapore Airlines flight SQ 117 was hijacked on 26 March 1991 shortly after it took off from Kuala Lumpur. The hijackers were four passengers who claimed to be members of the Pakistan People’s Party. The plane landed at Changi Airport at 10.24 pm. Commandos ...
Said Zahari (b. 18 May 1928, Singapore–d. 12 April 2016, Malaysia) was a writer, journalist and former political detainee. After working as a journalist and editor at the Utusan Melayu newspaper in the 1950s, he entered politics in the 1960s. Said was arrested ...
In October 2001, some Singapore members of a regional Islamic militant group known as Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), meaning “Islamic Community”, began planning a bomb attack on specific targets in Singapore. The bombings were scheduled for execution in either December ...
The Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute (SAFTI) was the training institute for officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs) for the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). Officially opened on 18 June 1966, it was located at Pasir Laba Road, which is bounded by Upper ...
Faber House, a 12-storey office building along Orchard Road, was the site of two explosions in the mid-1980s. The first – and largest – explosion occurred on 17 March 1985 and the second on 21 December 1986, both Sundays. No one was injured. The building is owned ...
A bomb exploded in the MacDonald House building situated along Orchard Road on 10 March 1965 at 3.07 pm. The explosion claimed the lives of three people and injured at least 33 others. The bombing had been carried out as part of Indonesian’s Confrontation (also ...
The Malay Regiment was an all-Malay military force formed at Port Dickson, Malaya, on 1 March 1933 under the command of British officers. Also known as Askar Melayu in Malay, the regiment is best remembered for its soldiers’ display of bravery and loyalty in the ...
From 1879 to 1901, Fort Tanjong Katong stood on the eastern side of Singapore, adjacent to Katong Beach on what is now Meyer Road and Fort Road. It lent its name to Fort Road, which led to the base of the fort. Built by the British colonial government, Fort Tanjong ...
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 ...
Gurkhas have their roots in Nepal. Reputed for their fearless military prowess and loyalty, the Gurkhas in Southeast Asia were initially brought to Singapore as special soldiers on the payroll of the British Army. Today, the Gurkha Contingent is a unit in the Singapore ...
Built in the late 1930s, Johore Battery was the main artillery battery of the British coastal artillery defence network. It was located at Cosford Road in Changi on the northeastern coast of Singapore, off Upper Changi Road North. The guns at the battery were destroyed ...
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).
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 Volunteer Special Constabulary (VSC) was formed in October 1946 to complement the Singapore Police Force. The VSC officers have the same powers and duties as regular police officers in various land divisions or specialised units such as Airport Police, Police ...