The following lists events that happened during 1979 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 ful ...

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 is not ...

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

*11 January – The Singapore Refining Company is formed by three oil companies, namely

Singapore Petroleum Company Singapore Petroleum Company Limited, in short SPC, is a Singaporean multinational oil and gas company. It is involved in the exploration and production of petroleum, refining, trading and petroleum product distribution. History The company ...

Chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * '' Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock ...

and BP. *24 January – The

Singapore Symphony Orchestra The Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Singapore. Its principal concert venue is the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. The orchestra also gives concerts at the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, and performs abou ...

is formed, playing its first concert.

April

*1 April – The Vocational and Industrial Training Board is formed from a merger between the Industrial Training Board (ITB) and the Adult Education Board (AEB). The Board handles vocational and industrial training until the formation of

Institute of Technical Education The Institute of Technical Education (ITE) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore. Established by the Ministry of Education, it was formerly known as Vocational ...

in 1992. *16 April – Plans for Raffles City, a future mixed-use development, are unveiled with a model shown to the public. The development will include a mall, an office block and 3 hotel towers; with one standing at about 200 metres high. Costing about S$600m, the development was targeted for completion in 1983, but it only opened in 1986. *20 April – Mitsukoshi Garden is officially opened in

Jurong Jurong () is a major geographical region located at the south-westernmost point of the West Region of Singapore. Although mostly vaguely defined, the region's extent roughly covers the planning areas of Jurong East, Jurong West, Boon Lay, ...

June

*1 June – The first National Courtesy Campaign is launched. *27 June –

Sentosa Development Corporation Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Government of Singapore. Purpose Islands The Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) was formed on 1 September 1972. Its main task is to ...

announced a new

monorail A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and "rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, ...

system that will replace double-decker buses, as well as a new 10-storey luxury hotel on

Fort Siloso Fort Siloso is a decommissioned coastal artillery battery in Sentosa, Singapore. It consists of 12 such batteries which made up "Fortress Singapore" at the start of World War II, and saw action during the Battle of Singapore. The fort is now a m ...

July

*1 July – The four-digit

postal code A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal a ...

system takes effect, replacing the previous system used since 1950. The system, first announced on 25 April, will help in automating mail sorting processes. *30 July – The Ulu Pandan Incineration Plant is officially opened, making it Singapore's first incineration plant.

September

*7 September – The first

Speak Mandarin Campaign The Speak Mandarin Campaign (SMC; ) is an initiative by the government of Singapore to encourage the Chinese Singaporeans, Singaporean Chinese population to speak Standard Mandarin Chinese, one of the four official languages of Singapore. Launch ...

is launched to encourage

Chinese Singaporeans Chinese Singaporeans () are Singaporeans of Chinese descent. Chinese Singaporeans constitute 75.9% of the Singaporean citizen population according to the official census, making them the largest ethnic group among them. As early as the 10th ...

to speak

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

instead of dialects.

October

*15 October – The first

automated teller machine An automated teller machine (ATM) or cash machine (in British English) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, fun ...

(ATM) in Singapore is launched. *20 October – The first

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

outlet opened in

Liat Towers Liat Towers is a shopping mall and mixed-use complex in Orchard Road, Singapore. It has 21 floors with offices, foodservice outlets, retail stores and embassies. It is located close to Orchard MRT station. The building was first constructed in 1965 ...

Date unknown

*Singapore becomes the world's second busiest port in terms of shipping tonnage.

Births

* 13 February –

Jesseca Liu Jesseca Liu () (刘芷绚/劉芷絢; ; pinyin: "''Liu Zhi Xuan''" was her previous Chinese stage name) (born 13 February 1979) is a Malaysian actress, who is based in Singapore and was named as one of the Seven Princesses of Mediacorp in 2006. ...

, actress. * 2 May –

Joscelin Yeo Joscelin Yeo Wei Ling (; born 2 May 1979) is a former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) from Nov 2006 to Apr 2011 and a former competitive swimmer from Singapore. Yeo won 40 gold medals at the Southeast Asian Games. She also represented S ...

, former national swimmer. * 26 June – Alaric Tay, actor. * 28 June –

Jeanette Aw Jeanette Aw Ee-Ping (born 28 June 1979), better known by her stage name Ou Xuan (), is a Singaporean actress, filmmaker, businesswoman and writer. Aw was named as one of the Seven Princesses of Mediacorp in 2006, after which she achieved wider ...

, actress. * 30 June –

Rosanne Wong Rosanne Wong (黃婉君, Wong Yuen-Guan, b. 30 June 1979) is the member of a former Hong Kong cantopop music duo group 2R alongside younger sister Race Wong. Background She was born in Malaysia and moved to Singapore with her family at a very ...

, former singer and 2R member. * 10 July –

Sun Xueling Sun Xueling ( zh, s=孙雪玲, p=Sūn Xuělíng; born 1979) is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as Ministry of Social and Family Development, Minister of State for Social and Family Development since 2020 and Ministry of Home Affairs ...

, politician. * 25 November – Chua En Lai, actor. * 25 December –

Celest Chong Celest Chong is a Singaporean actress, singer and former cover model who is currently based in Canada. Career Chong began her acting career as a secretary in Eric Khoo's ''Stories about Love'' performing a Turkish inspired belly-dance. She al ...

, actress and former singer. * Ashley Isham, fashion designer.

Deaths

* 2 September – Checha Davies - Activist, volunteer, social worker (b. 1898). * 3 September – Lim Cheng Hoe - Pioneering watercolourist (b. 1912). * 2 November – Jah Lelawati - Bangsawan actress, writer (b. 1937).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1979 In Singapore

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 ...

Years in Singapore