singapore shakedown

1965
Singapore separated from the Federation of Malaysia, which it had joined three years earlier, and became an independent Republic on August 9. On a televised press conference, Mr Lee Kuan Yew was visibly upset by the failure of the merger, which he believed was Singapore’s hope for survival apart from the British empire.

1966
The National Pledge was penned by Mr S Rajaratnam. The Pledge speaks about the possibilities Singapore can achieve as long as we are united, “regardless of race, language or religion”, which was especially poignant, given the backdrop of racial riots during the decade.

1967
Conscription was introduced in light of the British government’s decision to withdraw all troop support by 1971. Under the new scheme, all 18-year-old male Singapore citizens and permanent residents have to enlist in National Service.

1968
17 February saw the first General Elections held by Parliament after independence. PAP won all the seats, defeating sole contesting opposition, the Workers’ Party, to return a single-party government.

1969
Seven days in May saw a tragic repetition of the 1964 racial riots in Singapore, a spill-over from Sino-Malay unhappiness over Malaysia’s General Election. This would be the only post-independence riot Singapore ever faced.

1970
Singapore’s first president, Yusof Ishak, died of heart failure on Nov 23 at the age of 60. Singaporeans turned out in force to pay their respect to the leader who led Singapore in her first five years of nation building. Mr Yusof’s face adorns Singapore’s paper currency today.

1971
Because of the British troops’ complete withdrawal that triggered fear about defence and unemployment, Singapore established a Five Powers Defence Arrangement (FPDA) with United Kingdoms, Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia. The same year, thanks to aggressive attraction of foreign investments, Singapore amazingly faced labour shortage, not unemployment, thus making 1971 a watershed year in Singapore’s economic development.

1972
One of Singapore’s most iconic symbols was created this year. The Singapore Girl took flight with the inauguration of Singapore Airlines, clad in her signature Sarong Kebaya designed by French haute couture designer, Pierre Balmain.

1973
In 1973, the first Labour Force Survey (LFS) was carried out by the Singapore Department of Statistics. Its findings included a 58.3% labour force participation rate (number of people in labour force as a percentage of total working-age population), which has since steadily rose to peak at 65% in 2006.

1974
It was a breakthrough in local television, much to the glee of soccer fans. The 1974 World Cup finals between West Germany and Holland made it to Channel 5 of then-Radio and Television Singapore (RTS) as Singapore’s first ‘live’ colour telecast via satellite.

1975
A victorious Team Singapore returns home with a record haul of 38 gold medals from the SEA Games in Bangkok. The best ‘away’ showing was only bettered 30 years later in 2005 when they won 42 gold medals in Philippines. Singapore’s best harvest, however, was 50 golds on home ground in 1993.

1976
Lee Kuan Yew, paid his first official trip as Prime Minister to China, and returned more than 25 times since. Now that China is indubitably an economic and political powerhouse in Asia, Singapore is no doubt reaping the benefits of the friendship established more than three decades ago. Talk about having foresight!

1977
Remember the very popular Malaysia Cup soccer championship? In 1977, Singapore clinched the cup after a 12-year-long wait since their last victory in independence year 1965. Under coach Choo Seng Quee, Singapore Lions beat Penang 3-2 in the finals.

1978
Torrential rains brought on one of Singapore’s most severe flood during the monsoon season in December, and killed seven people in two days. A record 512.4 mm of rainfall was measured then. Thankfully, Singapore has better infrastructure nowadays to prevent such devastations from repeating.

1979
Singapore arts scene gets a boost with the formation of a professional orchestra, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra’s first piece at their inaugural concert was the National Anthem, led by then-resident conductor Choo Hoey.

1980
Singapore’s most established university – it has its beginnings in 1823 when Sir Stamford Raffles proposed a research and education facility – is formed as National University of Singapore (NUS) from a merger between University of Singapore and Nanyang University. Then-president Benjamin Sheares was its first chancellor.

1981
The end of 1981 came half an hour earlier at 11.30pm, 31 December 1981, thanks to time-zone adjustments. When our neighbour decided that West Malaysia would change its time zone to match East Malaysia’s, which is eight hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time, Singapore followed suit in view of our close trade links.

1982
Foreshadowing the ban of chewing gum in a decade’s time was a stern word from then foreign and culture minister, Mr S Dhanabalan. He said that HDB spent $75, 000 a year removing chewing gum wads from walls and floors in housing estates – presumably a preposterous sum for its purposes. That year, television commercials for chewing gums were banned.

1983
1983 heralded the birth of a baby and a Singapore record too. Asia’s first successful in-vitro fertilisation baby, Samuel Lee, was born in Kedang Kerbau Hospital, five years after the world’s first test-tube baby was delivered in Manchester, England.

1984
“Stand up for Singapore”, the first National Day song was created in 1984 to celebrate 25 years of self-governance in Singapore. Written by Canadian composer-producer Hugh Harrison, the song was such a hit with Singaporeans that more of such patriotic tunes were written, such as “Count on me Singapore” in 1986 and “We are Singapore” in 1987.

1985
We take card-swiping for granted now, but before 1985, there was no mode of cashless payment until a handful of banks – DBS, Keppel Bank, OCBC, OUB, POSB, Tat Lee Bank and UOB – formed a centralised e-payment operator, Network for Electronic Transfers Singapore (NETS).

1986
For the 1986 Singapore Arts Festival, female ballerinas from the Ballet National du Senegal were given the green light on the afternoon of their performance to dance topless. The allowance of nudity on stage was a first for conservative Singapore. However, for the more recent staging of King Lear at the Esplanade, Ian McKellen was told to cover up for his role of the deranged king.

1987
Singapore became the first Asian country to adopt presumed consent legislation under the Human Transplant Organ Act (HOTA) passed in 1987. It meant that kidneys of victims in fatal accidents would be considered donated, unless there was a registered objection.

1988
The introduction of the first analogue mobile phone system under Singapore Telecom saw 6000 subscribers ringing in that year. Today, there are about 5 million mobile subscriptions in Singapore.

1989
Tiny though she is, Singapore sends her first-ever contingent to take part in a United Nations peacekeeping mission. The 21 volunteers from the Singapore Police Force will help oversee Namibia’s transition to independence after more than a century of colonial rule.

1990
The only of its kind in the world, the Vehicle Quota System (VQS) was implemented on 1 May to regulate traffic growth in Singapore. Vehicle owners would now have to bid for a certificate of entitlement (COE) for the rights to own one.

1991
International media attention was gripped by the first hijacking of a Singapore Airlines plane, flight SQ117 arriving from Kuala Lumpur. Within five hours, Singapore Armed Forces commandos mounted a successful rescue operation, killing all four hijackers to rescue 118 passengers and eleven crewmembers.

1992
Chewing gum was finally banned in Singapore after a testy ten-year struggle (read 1982 in this column) to remove the unsightly wads from public spaces. All import, sale, manufacturing and advertisements were prohibited.

1993
In 1993, Ong Teng Cheong assumed office as Singapore’s first directly elected president. This was a major constitutional change in Singapore’s political history; previously, presidents of Singapore were elected by the Parliament.

1994
A favourite event of Singaporeans, the Great Singapore Sale was launched in 1994 by the Singapore Tourism Board to promote Singapore as a hot shopping destination. Nowadays, it isn’t just Orchard Road that attracts shoppers; even heartland malls have joined the bandwagon with attractive sales every June and July.

1995
Singapore’s court of law takes a stand against domestic violence. Former Chief Justice Yong Pung How announced that a family court would be set up in the Subordinate Courts to hear petitions for protection orders against spousal violence among other family justice issues.

1996
Singapore hosted trade, foreign, finance and agriculture ministers from more than 120 states at the inaugural World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial conference. The event took place at the Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre in Suntec City.

1997
Singapore soccer’s golden boy, Fandi Ahmad, hangs up his boots as captain of the national team after an illustrious 20-year career with more than 100 caps. He played his last international match against Jakarta in the 1997 SEA Games.

1998
Of Singapore’s outstanding performance at the prestigious Culinary World Cup held once every four years, Minister Teo Chee Hean said it best: “When it comes to cooking competitions, we are like Brazil or Italy in the football World Cup. Not guaranteed to win, but surely one of the favourites.” In 1998, Singapore was the overall champion.

1999
Singapore steps down on the issue of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) with the establishment of the Genetic Modification Advisory Committee in April. Chaired by Agri-food and Veterinary Authority veteran, Mr Ngiam Tong Tau, the committee issued the “Singapore guidelines on the release of agriculture-related GMOs” to ensure safe import and use of such products.

2000
Today, the newspaper, was launched on 10 November! Published by Mediacorp Press, the free tabloid is well received among Singaporeans for its commuter-friendly size and sharp news commentary.

2001
The two-week long Singapore Fashion Festival (SFF) kicks off for the first time on 16 March 2001 with big names such as Christian Dior and Kenzo taking part. This year, top British supermodel Lily Cole was the face of SFF, increasing its glam factor by a few notches and affirming its foothold in the fashion industry.

2002
The Esplanade – Theatres on The Bay, Singapore’s premier arts centre, officially opened on 12 October. The 600 million dollar project is also an architectural icon with its twin shells, endearingly known as the “Durian” to locals for its resemblance to the spiky tropical fruit.

2003
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) breaks out worldwide in an epidemic. When a travelling Taiwanese researcher falls ill after leaving Singapore in December, local health authorities activated the Quarantine Act, a law that had been dormant for 27 years, to restrict the movements of 70 people who came in close contact with the researcher.

2004
The first season of Singapore Idol was the hottest show on TV in 2004, attracting more than 3 million viewers. Winner Taufik Batisah and runner up Sylvester Lim also became household names thanks to the franchised singing cum popularity contest from America.

2005
The International Olympic Committee session held for the first time in Singapore put the nation on the world sporting map. From 2 to 9 July, the eyes of the world were on Singapore as the members, headed by president Jacques Rogge, convened to select the host city for Olympics 2012. London was the eventual winner.

2006
Tao Li wins first gold medal for Singapore in the 7th Milo Asia Swimming Championships since the championships started way back in 1980. Significantly, Tao Li’s triumphal 26.92 seconds was clocked on home ground at the Singapore Sports School, with compatriot Joscelin Yeo coming in second at 27.37 seconds.

2007
For the first time in 42 years of independence, Singapore’s National Day Parade would be held on water. Moving away from the soon-to-be-torn-down National Stadium, the parade would be on a floating platform installed at Marina Bay with a tri-coloured seating gallery.