1958 in Singapore

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← 1957 1956 1955 1958 in Singapore → 1959 1960 1961
Decades:	1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s
See also:	Other events of 1958 Timeline of Singaporean history

The following lists events that happened during 1958 in Colony of Singapore .

Incumbents

• Governor: Sir William Allmond Codrington Goode
• Chief Minister: Lim Yew Hock
• Chief Secretary: Edgeworth Beresford David (starting 29 January 1958) ^[1]

Events

March

• 30 March – Nanyang University, a private university using the Chinese language (Singaporean Mandarin) is officially opened. It eventually merged with the University of Singapore to form the National University of Singapore. ^{[2] [3]}

April

• 3 April – Times House is officially opened, serving as the operation headquarters of Singapore's newspapers. ^[4]

May

• 13 May – The third Merdeka Talks took place, which concluded with the same agreement from 1957. ^[5]

July

• 1 July – The Legal Aid Bureau is created to assist the need with legal matters. ^[6]

August

• 1 August – Royal assent was given to the State of Singapore Act 1958, providing for internal self-government for Singapore
• 8 August – The Master Plan, which was intended to guide Singapore's development over a two-decade period, is approved by the Singapore government and comes into force. ^[7]
• 9 August – The first air-conditioned supermarket, Fitzpatrick's Supermarket is officially opened. Since then, the area has been taken over by The Paragon. ^{[8] [9]}

November

• 22 November – The Shaw House, a 10-storey office block, is officially opened by then Chief Minister Lim Yew Hock. ^[10]
• 24 November – The Syariah Court is established to tighten divorce processes and safeguard marriages. ^[11]

Date Unknown

• The National Anthem "Majulah Singapura" is composed by Zubir Said and was selected as the National Anthem a year later on 11 November 1959 when Singapore gained full internal self governance from the British, the anthem was formally adopted as Singapore's National Anthem after it gained Independence in 1965.

Births

• 23 February – T. Sasitharan, theatre educator.
• 19 March – Sin Boon Ann, former politician.
• 10 April – Bernard Chong, physician and watch collector.
• 26 July – Woon Tai Ho, founder of Channel NewsAsia.
• 19 August – Cynthia Phua, business executive and former politician.
• 13 October – Sam Tan, former politician.
• 10 December – Ng Eng Hen, former Minister for Defence.

Deaths

• 2 April – Yin Suat Chuan, physician (b. 1876). ^[12]
• 22 April – Lee Leung Ki, founder and 1st General Manager of Asia Insurance Company (b. 1890). ^[13]
• 8 May – Kung Tian Siong, former managing proprietor of Empire Cinema and 72nd descendant of Confucius (b. 1876). ^[14]
• 6 June – George Herbert Garlick, 1st radiologist and medical director of the Singapore Anti-Tuberculosis Association (b. 1886). ^[15]

See also

• List of years in Singapore

References

1. "Last Chief Secretary". Singapore Standard. 30 January 1958. p. 4.
2. "Nanyang University". NLB. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
3. "Nanyang University opens". NLB. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
4. "Times House". NLB. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
5. "Merdeka talks – Third all-party mission to London is held". NLB. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
6. "Legal Aid Bureau is created". NLB. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
7. "Master Plan gets approval of Govt". The Straits Times. Singapore. 8 August 1958. p. 7. Retrieved 31 December 2021– via NewspaperSG.
8. "1st air-con supermart". The Straits Times. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
9. "Fitzpatrick's Supermarket at Orchard Road, between 1958 and 1963". NLB. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
10. "Shaw House (Lido)". NLB. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
11. "Syariah Court is established". NLB. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
12. "Dr. S.C. Yin (Son ereated) (The Saint') dies at 82". NewspaperSG . 3 April 1958. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
13. "INSURANCE COMPANY BOSS DIES". NewspaperSG . 23 April 1958. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
14. "ACKNOWLEDGMENTS". NewspaperSG . 10 May 1958. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
15. "Garlick dies in a Swiss clinic". NewspaperSG . 8 June 1958. Retrieved 30 June 2025.