1970 in Singapore

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← 1969 1968 1967 1970 in Singapore → 1971 1972 1973
Decades:	1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
See also:	Other events of 1970 Timeline of Singaporean history

The following lists events that happened during 1970 in Singapore.

Incumbents

• President: Yusof Ishak (until 23 November), Yeoh Ghim Seng (Acting) (23 November to 2 January 1971)
• Prime Minister: Lee Kuan Yew

Events

May

• 2 May – The Queenstown Branch Library (now Queenstown Community Library) is opened to the public, making it Singapore's first branch library. ^[1]
• 14 May – The National Junior College opens as Singapore's first junior college. 6 to 8 more junior colleges are announced over the next few years as part of a new education plan, along with more ASEAN students and scholarships, a new hostel in Outram by September and the St John's School to be run by a trust. ^{[2] [3]}

July

• 8 July – Singapore's first kidney transplant is performed on 29-year-old Doreen Tan at the Outram Park General Hospital (present day Singapore General Hospital), led by Chan Kong Thoe. The operation is declared a success. ^[4]

August

• 4 August – The Ministry of Health announced more hawker centres to be built within five years to resettle all street hawkers, resulting in greater hygiene and better facilities. For a start, three such hawker centres will be built this year. ^[5]
• 11 August The Ministry of Interior and Defence splits, forming the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Home Affairs to better cater for defence and homeland security functions. ^[6]

September

• September - Singapore is admitted into the Non-Aligned Movement.

October

• 1 October – The first shopping mall in Singapore, the People's Park Complex, is opened. ^[7]

November

• 23 November – Singapore's first President Yusof Ishak dies while in office. ^[8] Speaker of Parliament Yeoh Ghim Seng temporarily serves as acting president during that time.

Births

• 22 June – Glenn Ong – radio DJ.
• 22 August – Gwee Li Sui – Poet, graphic artist, critic. ^[9]
• 31 August – Baey Yam Keng – Politician.
• 10 November – Tay Ping Hui – Actor, director.
• Dave Chua – Author of Gone Case. ^[10]
• Paul Tan – Poet, winner of 1993 and 1997 Singapore Literature Prize. ^[11]

Deaths

• 23 November – Yusof bin Ishak, 1st President of Singapore (b. 1910). ^[8]

References

1. "Queenstown Community Library". NLB. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
2. "Official Opening of the National Junior College" (PDF). NAS. 14 May 1970. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
3. "Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew talking with students at …". nas.gov.sg. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
4. "First kidney transplant". NLB. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
5. "Balloting of stalls at Block 89, Hawker Centre, Pipit Road" (PDF). NAS. 4 August 1970. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
6. Germaine Foo-Tan (7 November 2003). "1965 - The Ministry of Interior and Defence". History Snippets. Singaporean Ministry of Defence (MINDEF). Archived from the original on 26 June 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
7. "Online project highlights key days of our lives". The New Paper. 24 December 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
8. "Cabinet pays last respects". The Straits Times, (Retrieved from NewspaperSG). 24 November 1970. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
9. "Gwee Li Sui". NLB. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
10. "Dave Chua". NLB. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
11. "Paul Tan". NLB. Retrieved 29 October 2019.