Howe Yoon Chong (b. July 1923, China–d. 21 August 2007, Singapore) was the first chief executive officer (CEO) of the Housing and Development Board (HDB) when it was established in 1960 and head of the civil service from 1975 to 1979. After a civil service career ...
The Straits Settlements Association was founded in London by a group of ex-Straits Settlements residents on 31 January 1868. The association, which mainly comprised members from the mercantile community, aimed to safeguard the commercial and political interests ...
Barisan Sosialis, a now defunct political party, was formed in 1961 by left-wing members of the People's Action Party (PAP), who were expelled from the Party. It became the main opposition party in self-governing Singapore. However, following Singapore's independence ...
The Labour Front (LF), now a defunct political party, was an offshoot of the Singapore Labour Party. It was formed in 1955 to contest the watershed election for the Legislative Assembly that year. Although the party emerged victorious in the election, the Labour ...
The communal riots of 1964 refer to two separate series of race riots involving clashes between Malays and Chinese that occurred in Singapore when it was part of the Federation of Malaysia. The first series of riots started on 21 July during a Muslim procession ...
Kenneth Michael Byrne (b. 13 May 1913, Singapore–d. 14 May 1990, Singapore), or K. M. Byrne, was Singapore’s first minister for labour and law. He was one of nine ministers who made up the first cabinet of the People’s Action Party (PAP) government, which was also ...
On 2 April 1949, the Municipal Commission election was held to elect 18 of the 27 members of the Municipal Commission. This election was the result of the enactment of the Municipal Elections Ordinance in 1948. The 1949 Municipal Commission election was a political ...
The Speak Good English Movement (SGEM) was launched on 29 April 2000 by then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong to “encourage Singaporeans to speak grammatically correct English that is universally understood”. The movement was introduced as a response to the growing ...
Cabinet 2001 was announced by Goh Chok Tong, then prime minister of Singapore, on 17 November 2001. The swearing-in ceremony was held on 23 November 2001 in the presence of S. R. Nathan, then president of Singapore, at the State Room in The Istana. It was the last ...
The Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) scheme was introduced in 1990 to allow for the appointment of non-elected members of Parliament (MPs) to provide alternative nonpartisan views in the House. NMPs are shortlisted by a Special Select Committee of Parliament ...
The Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) scheme was introduced in 1984 to ensure that there would always be a minimum number of opposition members represented in parliament. Under the scheme, the losing opposition candidates with the highest percentage ...
Goh Chok Tong (b. 20 May 1941, Singapore–) was Singapore’s second prime minister (PM), serving in the office from 28 November 1990 to 11 August 2004. Goh first entered politics as a People’s Action Party (PAP) candidate in the 1976 general election. He was elected ...
The Singapore Progressive Party (SPP) was a nationalistic party formed on 25 August 1947 to contest in the Legislative Council election in 1948. The conservative SPP stood for gradual change and was willing to work with the British to introduce steady constitutional ...
Lee Yock Suan (b. 30 September 1946, Singapore–) is a former cabinet minister and member of parliament (MP). He served as MP for the Cheng San single-member constituency (SMC) from 1980 to 1988 followed by Cheng San group representation constituency (GRC) from ...
Singapore’s national reserves, or net assets, are a vital strategic resource for the country, and are therefore strictly protected by the Constitution. Specifically, the Constitution safeguards the portion deemed to be “past reserves” – reserves that were not accumulated ...
Singapore’s national reserves are the net assets (assets minus liabilities) of the country. Being a small nation lacking in natural resources and relying heavily on external trade, Singapore requires ample reserves as its security net to ensure a stable currency ...
The finalised version of the national pledge was largely drafted by then Minister for Foreign Affairs S. Rajaratnam in February 1966 as a way to promote national loyalty and consciousness among citizens following Singapore's separation from Malaysia on 9 August ...
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 ...
Ong Pang Boon (b. 28 March 1929, Kuala Lumpur, Malaya–) was a politician and a prominent member of the People’s Action Party (PAP). He was appointed the minister for home affairs in the first cabinet of Singapore following the party’s victory in the 1959 Legislative ...
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, ...