Quarantine was formally introduced as a public health control measure in Singapore in 1868. It was an important method of disease control before the widespread adoption of vaccination and antimicrobial therapy. As a cosmopolitan port settlement, Singapore was particularly ...
The Environmental Public Health Act became law on 2 January 1969. The act was aimed at setting up a standard code to govern health-related matters in public cleansing services, markets, hawkers, food establishments and the general environment. It also integrated ...
The Factories Ordinance, 1958 (Ord. 41 of 1958), was a piece of legislation that sought to set minimum standards for the health, safety and welfare of workers in factories. In 1960, factory workers numbered about 120,000 and made up one-quarter of Singapore’s total ...
The Institute of Mental Health is the only government mental hospital in Singapore. It was relocated to its present campus – a modern complex off Hougang Street 51 – in April 1993. The site is near the old Woodbridge Hospital off Jalan Woodbridge, which has since ...
The Parliament of Singapore passed the Administration of Muslim Law Bill on 17 August 1966. The resultant Administration of Muslim Law Act 1966 (AMLA), which came into operation almost two years later on 1 July 1968, provides for a centralised system of administration ...
PUB, Singapore’s national water agency, formerly known as the Public Utilities Board (PUB), is a statutory board under the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR). Its mission is to ensure an efficient, adequate and sustainable supply of water in ...
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 ...
The islandwide dental health campaign was launched in February 1969 as part of the Ministry of Health’s efforts to inculcate good dental hygiene habits from young. Led by the Ministry of Health in conjunction with the Ministry of Education, the programme comprised ...
The Public Service Division (PSD) was established under the Ministry of Finance (MOF) on 3 January 1983 to serve as the central body dealing with matters relating to personnel management and career development in the civil service. These matters had previously ...
Bedok Public Library, located at 21 Bedok North Street 1, is the sixth branch library built by the National Library Board (NLB). It was known as Bedok Community Library until 2008. Officially opened on 28 September 1985 by S. Jayakumar, then minister for home affairs, ...
The Internal Security Act (ISA) is a law that enables the government to swiftly act against what it deems to be threats to national security by employing various measures. The law is carried out by the Internal Security Department (ISD), a body under the purview ...
Tommy Koh Thong Bee (b. 12 November 1937, Singapore–) is an ambassador-at-large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a position he has held since 1990, and a professor of law at the National University of Singapore. Koh is a veteran negotiator and diplomat who is ...
The Keep Singapore Clean campaign was one of Singapore’s first national campaigns as an independent nation. Launched on 1 October 1968 by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, the month-long campaign aimed to make Singapore the cleanest and greenest city in the region ...
The National AIDS Control Programme is an action plan for protecting against and preventing the spread of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infection and AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) in Singapore. It was formulated by the Advisory Committee on AIDS ...
The Singapore government started regulating the use of fireworks in 1968 when the practice of lighting celebratory fireworks became a serious public safety issue. Despite the introduction of new regulation banning the use of certain types of fireworks, the problem ...
The Keep Public Toilets Clean campaign series was launched by the Ministry of Environment (ENV) in July 1983. Held in the same month as the National Courtesy Campaign (NCC), the public education programme was started with the aim of promoting good public toilet ...
Located at 6 Toa Payoh Central, Singapore, Toa Payoh Community Library (previously known as Toa Payoh Branch Library), as it was then known, was opened on 7 February 1974. Equipped to serve about 250,000 residents in Toa Payoh, it was the second full-time branch ...
On 6 February 1819, Sir Stamford Raffles, Temenggong Abdu’r Rahman and Sultan Husain Shah (also spelt as Hussein Shah) of Johor signed a treaty that gave the British East India Company (EIC) the right to set up a trading post in Singapore. In exchange, Sultan Husain ...
After the split in the People’s Action Party (PAP) that led to its left wing setting up the Barisan Socialis, the Singapore Trades Union Congress (TUC) also split into two rival factions: the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC) and the Singapore Association of ...
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 ...