1963 in Singapore

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← 1962 1961 1960 1963 in Singapore → 1964 1965 1966
Decades:	1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s
See also:	Other events of 1963 Timeline of Singaporean history

Plaque commemorating the official opening of Masjid Malabar

The following lists events that happened during 1963 in Singapore.

• Singapore was a 14th State of Malaysia beginning 16 September 1963.

Incumbents

• Yang di-Pertuan Negara – Yusof Ishak
• Prime Minister – Lee Kuan Yew

Events

January

• 6 January – The OG factory is officially opened. ^[1]
• 20 January – Confrontation was announced. ^[2]

February

• 2 February – Operation Coldstore was mounted to stop communist influence, resulting in 113 people being arrested. ^[3]
• 15 February – At 18:00 SST, Channel 5 was launched as its first pilot television service as "TV Singapura". The channel operated 1 hour and 40 minutes monochrome service on black and white during its daily test transmissions from 18:00 to 19:40 SGT. After the image of the state flag and the playing of the national anthem, Majulah Singapura , Minister for Culture, S. Rajaratnam, became the first person to appear on Singapore TV, announcing that "Tonight might well mark the start of a social and cultural revolution in our lives." Following his speech, the first television programme in Singapore was a 15-minute documentary produced by TV Singapura called TV Looks at Singapore. It was followed by two cartoons, a news report and newsreel, a comedy show and a local variety show. At the time, it was estimated that only one in 58 persons in Singapore owned a TV set, and the pilot service offered only 1-hour and 40-minutes of broadcasting per day on Channel 5. ^[4]

March

• 13 March – The Civilian War Memorial will be built at Beach Road. ^[5]

April

• 2 April - At 19:15 SGT, President Yusof Ishak officially inaugurated the regular television service as "TV Singapura Channel 5" with expanded its broadcast day to four hours per-night daily broadcasts from 19:15 until 23:15 SGT before gradually brought forward to 18:30 SGT in September showing programmes in Singapore's four official languages. ^[6]
• 22 April – City Hall riot. ^[7]

May

• 1 May – The Public Utilities Board is formed to manage electricity, water and gas. ^[8]
• 25 May – The Ngee Ann College is officially opened, changing name from Ngee Ann Technical College and finally present-day Ngee Ann Polytechnic. ^[9]

June

• 16 June – The first tree in Singapore is planted in Farrer Circus by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, which is a mempat tree. ^[10]

July

• 9 July – The 20-point agreement, submitted by North Borneo, was signed by the UK government and representatives of Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore in the run-up to the creation of the Federation of Malaysia. ^{[11] [12]}
• 12 July - Pulau Senang prison riot. ^[13]

August

• 8 August – The National Theatre is opened. ^[14]
• 25 August – A rally was held in City Hall. ^[15]
• 28 August – A report to improve education was released. ^[16]
• 31 August – Singapore declared its independence from the United Kingdom, with Yusof bin Ishak as the head of state (Yang di-Pertuan Negara) and Lee Kuan Yew as prime minister; sixteen days later, Singapore would join the Federation of Malaysia, but would declare independence again on 9 August 1965. On the same day, the 1963 State Constitution is adopted. ^{[17] [18] [19]}

September

• 7 September – City Developments Limited is formed as a property group. ^[20]
• 16 September – Malaysia is formed from Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore. ^{[21] [22]}
• 21 September – The PAP wins the 1963 State Elections, defeating the Barisan Sosialis and UMNO. ^{[23] [24]}

November

• 13 November – The Singapore Association of Trade Unions (SATU) is refused registration for being prejudicial to Singapore's national security, leading to its eventual dissolution. ^{[25] [26]}
• 23 November – TV Singapura Channel 8 was officially formal full launched at 19:40 SGT as Singapore's second television channel with 25 minutes daily broadcasts from 19:40 until 20:05 SGT. ^[27]

Births

• 12 April – Indranee Rajah, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office.
• 16 April – Masagos Zulkifli, Minister for Social and Family Development and Second Minister for Health.
• 20 September – Ivan Heng, Stage actor, director, founder of W!LD RICE. ^[28]
• Koh Buck Song – Writer, journalist. ^[29]
• Heng Siok Tian – Art educator. ^[30]
• Yang Lina - Actress (d. 2010). ^[31]

Deaths

• 14 February – Lim Hak Tai – Pioneer artist, art educator (b. 1893). ^[32]
• 18 August – Carl Alexander Gibson-Hill – Last British director of Raffles Museum (present day National Museum of Singapore) (b. 1911). ^[33]
• Haji Ambo Sooloh – Businessman of Bugis descent (b. 1891). ^[34]

References

1. "Goh to open factory". The Straits Times. 5 January 1963. Archived from the original on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
2. "Indonesia announces Konfrontasi (Confrontation)". NLB. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
3. "Special Branch mounts Operation Coldstore". NLB. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
4. Lim Ann Qi, Angela (14 February 1963). "PROGRAMME FOR TV PILOT SERVICE". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 10 November 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
5. "Civilian War Memorial". NLB. Archived from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
6. Lim Ann Qi, Angela (2 April 1963). "Television Singapura The Straits Times". The Straits Times. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
7. "SEVEN CHARGES". The Straits Times. 24 April 1963. p. 1.
8. "Public Utilities Board is formed". NLB. Archived from the original on 17 April 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
9. "Ngee Ann College opens". NLB. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
10. Lam, Lydia (20 May 2015). "On the trail of Mr Lee's trees". Asiaone. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
11. Gungwu Wang (2005). Nation-building: Five Southeast Asian Histories. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. p. 218. ISBN   978-981-230-317-2.
12. "Signing of the Malaysia Agreement". NLB. Archived from the original on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
13. "ALL THAT HAVOC EN 40 mins: SEOW". The Straits Times. 19 November 1963. p. 6. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
14. "National Theatre". NLB. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
15. ""Blood debt" rally is held at City Hall". NLB. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
16. "Final report of the Commission of Inquiry into Education". NLB. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
17. Stephen McCarthy (18 April 2006). The Political Theory of Tyranny in Singapore and Burma: Aristotle and the Rhetoric of Benevolent Despotism. Routledge. pp. 68–69. ISBN   978-1-134-00332-7.
18. "Lee Kuan Yew declares de facto independence for Singapore". NLB. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
19. "1963 State of Singapore Constitution is adopted". NLB. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
20. "City Developments Limited is formed". NLB. Archived from the original on 22 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
21. "Portal Rasmi Arkib Negara Malaysia". www.arkib.gov.my. Archived from the original on 31 October 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
22. "Singapore becomes part of Malaysia". NLB. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
23. Albert Lau (2003). A Moment of Anguish: Singapore in Malaysia and the Politics of Disengagement. Eastern Universities Press. ISBN   978-981-210-265-2.
24. "1963 Legislative Assembly General Election". NLB. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
25. "Singapore Association of Trade Unions". NLB. Archived from the original on 21 August 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
26. "Govt. says 'no' to Satu bid for federation". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 14 November 1963. Archived from the original on 14 August 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
27. Lim Ann Qi, Angela (23 November 1963). "Television Singapura Channel 8 The Straits Times". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
28. "Ivan Heng". NLB. Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
29. "Koh Buck Song". NLB. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
30. "Heng Siok Tian". NLB. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
31. Fang, Joy (21 March 2010). "Former Mediacorp actress Yang Lina dies of cancer". AsiaOne. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
32. "Lim Hak Tai". NLB. Archived from the original on 29 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
33. "Carl Alexander Gibson-Hill". NLB. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
34. "Haji Ambo Sooloh". NLB. Archived from the original on 12 November 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.