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 Javanese are one of the larger Indonesian ethnic groups that migrated to Singapore in various waves starting from the early 19th century. People of Javanese ancestry in Singapore are now regarded as part of the larger Malay/Muslim community.
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 ...
The National Police Cadet Corps (NPCC) is a youth uniformed group in Singapore supported by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Ministry of Education (MOE). It was set up in 1959 as the Police Cadet Corps (PCC), against the backdrop of nation-building to break ...
The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) was established on 6 September 1961, with Mahmud Awang as the pro-tem chairman and C. V. Devan Nair its first secretary-general. The labour movement initially represented only a minority of unionised workers. Its membership, ...
The St John Ambulance Brigade (SJAB) is a voluntary organisation founded in England in 1887 to provide first-aid support for public events and emergencies. Established in Singapore in September 1938, the local SJAB has been rendering voluntary first-aid services ...
The Vigilante Corps (VC) was originally a network of volunteers set up by the government in April 1964 to guard key installations and protect crowded public areas against terrorist attacks by Indonesian saboteurs during the Indonesian–Malaysian Confrontation (1963–66). ...
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, ...
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 ...
William Lim Siew Wai (b. 19 July 1932, Hong Kong– d. 6 January 2023) was an architect, urban theorist and activist. The Singapore citizen was involved in the design of many iconic buildings in the country, including the former Singapore Conference Hall and Trade ...
The Armenians are a small ethnic community who established themselves in Singapore, with no more than 100 Armenians ever living here at any given time. Vestiges of the importance of this community can be seen in the presence of place-names such as Armenian Street ...
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 ...
Khoo Teck Puat (b. 13 January 1917, Singapore–d. 21 February 2004, Singapore) was a prominent businessman and investor with interests in banking, hotels, property development and other sectors. He controlled the Goodwood group of hotels and held significant stakes ...
The Education Ordinance, which applied to all schools in Singapore, was enacted on 13 December 1957. The ordinance (replaced by the Education Act in 1965) made provisions for the registration of schools, managers and teachers, as well as for the roles and responsibilities ...
In Singapore, vernacular education refers to education conducted in the native languages of the main resident communities, namely Malay, Chinese and Tamil. From the early 19th to the mid-20th centuries, formal vernacular education was started by philanthropists, ...
The Boys’ Brigade (BB) is the first youth uniformed group in the world. Founded in Scotland in 1883, it is a Christian organisation that seeks to nurture boys into responsible Christian men instilled with values such as obedience, reverence and discipline. The ...
The Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) was established by the British colonial government in 1877 to provide banking facilities for lower-income groups. Following Singapore’s separation from Malaysia in 1965, control of the POSB was transferred to the Postmaster-General ...
At 4 am on 31 December 1999, four members of the Antarctica 2000 expedition team arrived at the South Pole after an arduous 1,125-kilometre trek, becoming the first Singapore team to do so. Upon reaching the South Pole, they unfurled the Singapore national flag. ...