The Singapore Story

This is a timeline based on A History of Modern Singapore, 1819 - 2005 by C.M. Turnbull. Published by NUS press in 2009.

1819 - 1890: Our Humble Beginnings

1819

Stamford Raffles signs a treaty with Temenggong of Johor to establish a trading post in Singapore

6 February 1819

William Farquhar is appointed as 1st Resident of Singapore

June 1819

Naraina Pillai, the first Indian to set foot in Singapore

1819

Tan Tock Seng and the first teochews arrive in Singapore

Late 1819

Munshi Abdullah arrives in Singapore

1823

Beginning of Kampong Glam

9 June 1823

John Crawfurd is appointed as 2nd Resident of Singapore

17 March 1824

Signing of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty in London

2 August 1824

Signing of the Treaty of Friendship and Alliance between the EIC and the Johore Sultanate

1826

Singapore, together with Malacca and Penang, becomes the British Straits Settlement

1830

Whampoa Hoo Ah Kay arrives in Singapore

1 April 1867

Singapore became a crown colony directly under the Colonial Office in London

17 Nov 1869

Opening of Suez Canel

11 Jun 1877

Rubber came to Singapore

1890 – 1920: Contributions of Pioneer Migrants

1893

Gan Eng Seng Free School founded. One of the earliest schools to offer bilingual education

1895

Lim Boon Keng becomes a legislative councillor

1899

Singapore Chinese Girls’ School founded. First Chinese girls’ school in Singapore

1900

Sun Yat Sen’s first of nine visits to Singapore

1905

P. Govindasamy Pillai arrives in Singapore

1907

Mohammed Eunos becomes editor of Utusan Malayu

1921 – 1941: Under the British Flag

1925

Singapore Traction Company, the first public motor-transport form, set up

1926

Formation of Kesatuan Melayu Singapora

1926

Singapore General Hospital opened

1927

First municipal power station opened at St. James

1927

Singapore Improvement Trust set up

1927

Kreta Ayer Incident

1928

Opening of Raffles College

1932

Formation of Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC)

1937

Opening of Kallang Civil Airport

1941 – 1945: When Singapore was Syonan-To

8 Dec 1941

Japanese landings in Southern Thailand and Northern Malaya

8 Feb 1942

Battle of Singapore starts

15 Feb 1942

Fall of Singapore

21 Feb to 4 Mar 1942

Sook Ching Massacre

1942 to 1945

Syonan-To Era

1945 – 1955: The Tumultuous Post-War Years

12 Sep 1945

Japanese Surrender

Sep 1945

British Military Administration (BMA) set up

Apr 1946

Return of Civilian Administration and Singapore becomes a separate Crown Colony

1 Feb 1948

Federation of Malaya inaugurated, Singapore remained separate

1 Mar 1948

First General Elections held in Singapore with 6 legislative council seats up for elections

24 Jun 1948

Emergency is declared!

1949

King Edward College of Medicine merges with Raffles College to form the University of Malaya in Singapore

1951

General Election: Number of elected seats in the Legislative Council increased to nine

1953

Rendel Commission

11 Dec 1953

Enactment of the Central Provident Fund Ordinance

1955 – 1965: Road to Merdeka

13 May 1954

Anti-National Service Riots

Apr 1955

General Elections David Marshall as First Chief Minister of Singapore

12 May 1955

Hock Lee Bus Riots

23 Apr 1956

The 1st Merdeka Talks

8 Jun 1956

Lim Yew Hock beomes the 2nd Chief Minister of Singapore

10 Oct 1956

Protests by Chinese Middle School Students

11 Mar 1957

2nd Merdeka Talks

13 May 1958

3rd Merdeka Talks

30 May 1959

Legislative Assembly General Elections

5 Jun 1959

The first Cabinet is sworn in, Lee Kuan Yew becomes 1st Prime Minister of Singapore

3 Dec 1959

Yusof Ishak is sworn in as Yang Di-Pertuan Negara (head of state)

1 Feb 1960

Establishment of Housing and Development Board (HDB)

1961

Creation of Jurong Industrial Estate

1 Sep 1962

Referendum on Merger with Malaysia

16 Sep 1963

Merger with Malaya to form Malaysia

21 Jul 1964

Communal Riots

9 Aug 1965

Separation – Singapore Independence

1965 – 1990: Building a New Nation

21 Sep 1965

Singapore is admitted into the UN as the 117th member

22 Dec 1965

Constitutional Amendment Act passed and Yusof bin Ishak becomes the first President of Singapore

14 Mar 1967

National Service Bill passed

12 Jun 1967

Issue of the first Singapore Dollar

8 Aug 1967

Singapore is a founding member of ASEAN

Jan 1968

Britain announces its intention to withdraw its armed forces from Singapore

Apr 1968

PAP won all seats in the 1968 General Elections, which was boycotted by the opposition Barisan Sosialis

31 May 1969

Race Riots

May 1970

Singapore’s 1st Junior College National Junior Colleage opens

31 Oct 1971

British military forces withdraws from Singapore

1972

Singapore Airlines is formed

2 Jan 1972

Dr Benjamin Henry Sheares becomes the 2nd President of Singapore

2 Sep 1972

PAP wins the 1972 GE

1973

Presidential Council for Minority Rights set up

31 Jan 1974

Laju Terror Incident

23 Dec 1976

PAP wins all 69 seats in the 1976 GE

23 Dec 1980

PAP wins all 75 seats in the 1980 GE

1 Jul 1981

Singapore Changi Airport starts operation

24 Oct 1981

C V Devan Nair becomes 3rd President of Singapore

31 Oct 1981

Workers’ Party JB Jeyaretnam elected into Parliament, breaking a 16-years PAP total control of the House

1982

Singapore becomes the world’s busiest port in terms of shipping tonnage

29 Jan 1983

Eniwetok, a Panamanian-registered oil rig, hits the Singapore Cable Car system, sending two cabins plunging into the sea and killing seven people

22 Dec 1984

The PAP wins the 1984 General Election Non-Constituency Member of Parliament system was introduced

2 Sep 1985

Dr Wee Kim Wee becomes the 4th President of Singapore

15 Mar 1986

Hotel New World collapses

3 Sep 1988

PAP wins the 1988 GE. Group Representation Constituencies (GRCS) introduced

6 Jul 1990

The East West Line of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) is completed

22 Nov 1990

Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2 begins operation

28 Nov 1990

Goh Chok Tong becomes the 2nd Prime Minister of Singapore

1990 – 2004: Forging Ahead into the Millennium

26 - 27 Mar 1991

Hijack of SQ 117

31 Aug 1991

PAP wins 1991 GE

1 Sep 1993

Ong Teng Cheong becomes the 5th President of Singapore, 1st Elected President

2 Jan 1997

PAP wins 1997 GE

Jul 1997

Asian Financial Crisis

1999

Sellapan Rama Nathan becomes the 6th President of Singapore

2001

Economic Recession in Singapore

3 Nov 2001

PAP wins 2001 GE

Dec 2001

15 suspected militants of Jemaah Islamiyah are arrested for alleged bomb plot

Apr 2003

SARS virus outbreak in Singapore

6 May 2003

United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (USS-FTA) signed

29 Oct 2003

A major research centre Biopolis opens

2004

National Service reduced from 2.5 to 2 years

20 Apr 2004

A section of Nicoll Highway collapses

12 Aug 2004

Lee Hsien Loong becomes 3rd Prime Minister of Singapore

2004 – Present Day: Singapore, Endearing Home

18 Apr 2005

Government approves the plan to legalise casino gambling and builds two Integrated Resorts

6 May 2006

PAP wins 2006 GE

9 Jan 2008

Singapore Changi Airport opens 3rd passenger terminal

Sep 2008

Singapore slips into recession due to Global Financial Crisis

7 May 2011

PAP wins 2011 GE but loses Aljunied GRC. First time an opposition party captured a GRC

1 Sep 2011

Dr Tan Keng Yam Tony sworn in as 7th President of Singapore

24 Jun 2013

Haze in Singapore reaches 401 PSI, worst in Singapore History

1 Aug 2014

Launch of Pioneer Generation package

23 Mar 2015

Lee Kuan Yew passes away. Singapore enters a one-week mourning period

9 Aug 2015

Singapore’s Golden Jubilee

Aug 2016

Joseph Schooling is Singapore’s first Olympic Champion

22 Aug 2016

S R Nathan passes away. Singapore enters a one-week mourning period

8 Aug 2017

Future Economy Council holds first meeting with Mr Heng Swee Keat as chair

20 Aug 2017

Launch of Smart Nation projects

13 - 14 Sep 2017

Halimah Yacob elected as 8th President and 1st female President of Singapore

12 Jun 2018

Kim – Trump Summit

19 Aug 2018

Announcement of Merdeka Generation package

23 Nov 2018

The 4th Generation of leaders emerges

20 Dec 2018

United Nations passes resolution for new treaty on mediation named after Singapore