The following lists events that happened during

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Incumbents

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

: ** until 2 June: Sir

John Fearns Nicoll Sir John Fearns Nicoll (26 April 1899 – 12 January 1981) was a British colonial administrator who served as Governor of Singapore from 1952 to 1955. Early years and colonial service Nicoll was born in 1899 and attended Carlisle Grammar Sch ...

** 2 June-30 June: Sir William Goode ** starting 30 June: Sir

Robert Brown Black Sir Robert Brown Black (3 June 1906 – 29 October 1999) was a British colonial administrator who served as Governor of Singapore from 1955 to 1957, and Governor of Hong Kong from 1958 to 1964. Born in Edinburgh and educated at George Watson ...

* Chief Minister: David Marshall * Colonial Secretary: Sir William Goode (till January 1955) * Chief Secretary: Sir William Goode (starting February 1955)

Events

January

* 1 January - The Singapore Telephone Board (STB) and Telephone Department (TD) are formed after the British Colonial Government terminated Oriental Telephone and Electric Company's licence, thus acquiring its assets. The STB takes control of domestic telephone lines, with the TD controlling trunk and international services.

April

* 2 April - Singapore held its first Legislative Assembly

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

. The Singapore Labour Front (LF) won the

, the first where a majority of seats were contested. * 6 April - David Marshall became the first

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

of Singapore. * 7 April - The

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

is established. * 23 April - The Hock Lee bus workers' strike began.

May

* 12 May - The Hock Lee strikes escalated into a

riot A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targete ...

, resulting in 4 fatalities.

July

* 1 July - The

Central Provident Fund The Central Provident Fund Board (CPFB), commonly known as the CPF Board or simply the Central Provident Fund (CPF), is a compulsory comprehensive savings and pension plan for working Singaporeans and permanent residents primarily to fund their ...

is formed as a savings scheme to support workers during retirement.

August

* 20 August - The

Paya Lebar Airport The Paya Lebar Air Base is a military airbase of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) located at Airport Road in Paya Lebar, in the eastern region of Singapore. The airbase goes by the motto of ''Strength Through Readiness''. It was ...

is officially opened, replacing the

Kallang Airport Kallang Airport (also known as the Kallang Aerodrome, Kallang Airfield and RAF Kallang) was the first purpose-built civil international airport in Singapore, opened officially on 12 June 1937 and ceased operations in 1955, when it was reloca ...

which opened on 12 June 1937.

September

* 8 September - The

Van Kleef Aquarium Van Kleef Aquarium was an oceanarium located along River Valley Road, at the foot of Fort Canning Hill, in Singapore. Fully air-conditioned, the aquarium had 6,500 animals at the time of opening, which were housed in freshwater, seawater, and swam ...

is opened. * 22 September - To deal with crimes, the

Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act The Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act 1955 (often known by the abbreviation "CLTPA") is a Singapore statute that, among other things, allows the executive branch of the Government of Singapore to order that suspected criminals be detained ...

is passed, allowing for detentions.

November

* 23 November - The administration of

Cocos (Keeling) Islands ) , anthem = "''Advance Australia Fair''" , song_type = , song = , image_map = Australia on the globe (Cocos (Keeling) Islands special) (Southeast Asia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands , map_caption = ...

is transferred to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

after several delays.

December

* 10 December - The

Asia Insurance Building The former Asia Insurance Building (Chinese: 亚洲保险大厦; pinyin: Yàzhōu Bǎoxiǎn dàshà), now named Ascott Raffles Place, lies in the heart of the Central Business District of Singapore, at the corner of Finlayson Green and Raffles Qua ...

is opened, then Southeast Asia's tallest building.

Births

* 11 July –

Balaji Sadasivan Balaji Sadasivan ( or ; 11 July 1955 – 27 September 2010) was a Singaporean politician and neurosurgeon. He attended Raffles Institution, Siglap Secondary School and National Junior College, and studied medicine at the University of Singapo ...

, former Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (d. 2010). * 3 October –

Yaacob Ibrahim Yaacob bin Ibrahim ( Jawi: ; born 3 October 1955) is a Singaporean former politician who served as Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs between 2002 and 2018, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports between 2002 and 2004, Ministe ...

, former politician. * 27 October –

Michael Chiang Michael Chiang (born 27 October 1955 in Muar, Malaysia) is a prolific playwright and screenwriter in Singapore. He is known as "Singapore's most famous and successful playwright". From 1990 to 2009, Chiang was the editorial director of Mediacorp ...

, playwright. *

Lee Wei Ling Lee Wei Ling is a Singaporean neurologist. She was the director of the National Neuroscience Institute. Career Lee received a President's Scholarship in 1973, before studying in the medical faculty of the University of Singapore (now the Nationa ...

, neurologist. *

Sim Wong Hoo Sim Wong Hoo (; born 1955) is a Singaporean inventor and billionaire entrepreneur. He is the founder, CEO and Chairman of Creative Technology, a designer and manufacturer of products for personal computers and personal digital entertainment devic ...

, founder of

Creative Technology Creative Technology Ltd. is a Singaporean multinational technology company headquartered with overseas offices in Shanghai, Tokyo, Dublin, and Silicon Valley (where in the US it is known as Creative Labs). The principal activities of the compa ...

References

Years in Singapore {{singapore-stub