The following lists events that happened during 1972 in Singapore.

Incumbents

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Benjamin Henry Sheares Benjamin Henry Sheares (12 August 1907 – 12 May 1981) was a Singaporean politician, physician and academic who served as the second president of Singapore from 1971 until his death in 1981. Sheares retired in 1960 and was in private pract ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General o ...

Events

January

*1 January – The Post Office Savings Bank is turned into a statutory board. This allows the bank more freedom to run its operations.

February

*7 February – The National Wages Council is set up to ensure sustainable wages. This comes after wages have risen quickly the previous year.

April

*1 April – The Telephone Department is converted into a statutory board called the Telecommunication Authority of Singapore. *2 April – The

Singapore Grand Prix The Singapore Grand Prix; ta, சிங்கப்பூர் கிராண்ட் பிரிக்ஸ் is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula One World Championship. The event takes place on the Marina Bay Street Cir ...

is won by

Max Stewart Malcolm Clarke Stewart (14 March 1935 – 19 March 1977) was an Australian racing driver. He was known as the "Jolly Green Giant" for his disposition and height. Stewart was born in Orange, New South Wales. He began his motorsport career ...

May

* 12 May – The

National Productivity Board National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

is formed to encourage productivity.

June

*15 June – The SAF Act comes into effect, allowing for effective management of the

Singapore Armed Forces The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are the military services of the Republic of Singapore, responsible for protecting and defending the security interests and the sovereignty of the country. A military component of the Ministry of Defence (MIND ...

. The Act merges the air, sea and land vocations and establishes the Armed Forces Council.

July

*2 July – Singapore Armed Forces Reservist Association is officially launched. *20 July – The Stop at Two policy is unveiled to encourage people to have smaller families.

August

*17 August – Work starts on the Brani Naval Base.

September

*1 September – The Sentosa Development Corporation is formed to manage

Sentosa Sentosa Island, known mononymously as Sentosa, and formerly ''Pulau Belakang Mati'', is an island located off the southern coast of Singapore's main island. The island is separated from the main island of Singapore by a channel of water, the K ...

and the outlying islands to attract tourists. *2 September – The

People's Action Party The People's Action Party (abbreviation: PAP) is a major conservative centre-right political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and ...

wins the 1972 General Election. *15 September – The first Merlion Park is officially opened. *17 September – 22-year-old Cheng Li Zhen is shot dead while walking through Queenstown; the crime remains unsolved.

October

*1 October –

Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines ( abbreviation: SIA) is the flag carrier airline of the Republic of Singapore with its hub located at Singapore Changi Airport. The airline is notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in corporat ...

starts its first flights. *13 October – Heavy fog, an environmental phenomenon that had built up since the beginning of the month, causes gridlock and other problems throughout Singapore. *24 October – Disincentives are announced to nudge families into having only two children, taking effect on 1 August 1973. Among them are progressive reduction of income tax relief to the first three children; increase in childbirth fees depending on births; reduction of paid maternity leave from three to two confinements; and lowering priority of HDB flats allocations for large families (more than two children).

November

*21 November – A fire engulfs the Robinson's Department Store, causing 9 deaths. In addition, the impact of the fire damaged the roof of the

Overseas Union Bank United Overseas Bank Limited (), often known as UOB, is a Singaporean multinational banking corporation headquartered in Singapore, with branches mostly found in most Southeast Asian countries. Founded in 1935 as United Chinese Bank (UCB) by S ...

building and forced the Stock Exchange to stop trading for the day. As a result, this makes the fire one of the worst in Singapore's history.

December

*15 December - ** OCBC acquires Four Seas Communications Bank. **

SATS Ltd SATS Ltd. (SATS), an acronym derived from Singapore Airport Terminal Services, is a Singaporean airport service company that handles the main ground handling and in-flight catering service provider at its country's Changi Airport. SATS controls a ...

is established as a separate company from

to manage ground operations and inflight catering services.

Date unknown

* The OG building is officially opened. * Three Rifles Holdings is founded, becoming a company selling clothes. *

Specialists' Shopping Centre The Specialists' Shopping Centre was the oldest shopping centre on Orchard Road, a shopping area of Singapore. The largest tenant of the shopping centre were Hotel Phoenix Singapore and John Little. The Visitor's Guide of Singapore described th ...

is opened in

Orchard Road Orchard Road, often known colloquially as simply Orchard, is a major –long road in the Central Area of Singapore. Known as a famous tourist attraction, it is an upscale shopping area of Singapore, with numerous internationally renowned depa ...

. It has since been demolished. * The first Guardian store is opened by Cold Storage. * Shaw Centre is opened.

Births

* 22 February –

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, actor. * 26 April – Diana Ser, journalist, media personality. * 15 September –

Kit Chan use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates ...

, singer. * 30 September –

Darren Lim Darren Lim (, born 30 September 1972) is a Singaporean actor and television host. He was prominently a full-time Mediacorp artiste from 1997 to 2016 but continues to film on an ad-hoc basis. Career Having left school at age 15, Lim began his ca ...

, actor. * 6 November –

Janil Puthucheary Janil Arusha Puthucheary ( ta, ஜனில் புதுச்சேரி; born 1972) is a Malaysian-born Singaporean politician and paediatrician who has been serving as Minister of State for Communications and Information since 2018 and M ...

, politician. * 18 December –

Lawrence Wong Lawrence Wong Shyun Tsai ( zh, c=黄循财, p=Huáng Xúncái; born 18 December 1972) is a Singaporean politician, economist and former civil servant who has been serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore since 2022 alongside Heng Swee Kea ...

, Minister for Finance. *

Alvin Pang Alvin Pang ( Chinese: 冯啟明; pinyin: ''Féng Qǐ Míng''; born 1972, Singapore) was named 2005 Young Artist of the Year (Literature) by the National Arts Council Singapore. He holds a First Class Honours degree in English literature from th ...

- Singaporean poet.

Deaths

*4 April – Lionel Chan – racing driver, 28 (injuries sustained in a crash during the Singapore Grand Prix) *5 May – Chen Su Lan – one of Singapore's first local medical graduates, philanthropist, social reformer (b. 1885). *5 September – Bashir Ahmad Mallal – founder of Malayan Law Journal (b. 1898). *11 September –

Tan Lark Sye Tan Lark Sye (; 1897–1972) was a prominent Chinese businessman and philanthropist based in Singapore. Early life Tan was born in a Hoklo peasant family of seven in Jimei of Tong An in Fujian, China. Born into of very limited means, and orph ...

– former Chairman of the

Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan (SHHK) (), or the Singapore Hokkien Association in English, is a cultural and educational foundation. It was established in 1840 to promote education, social welfare and the preservation of the Chinese language and cultu ...

and founder of the

Nanyang University Nanyang University (, also known as Nantah (), was a university in Singapore between 1956 and 1980. During its existence, it was Singapore's only private university in the Chinese language. In 1980, Nanyang University was merged with the Univer ...

(b. 1897).

References

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, bor ...

Years in Singapore {{singapore-stub