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.

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. ^[6]

November

• 23 November – Singapore's first President Yusof Ishak dies while in office. ^[7] 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. ^[8]
• 31 August – Baey Yam Keng – Politician.
• 10 November – Tay Ping Hui – Actor, director.
• Dave Chua – Author of Gone Case. ^[9]
• Paul Tan – Poet, winner of 1993 and 1997 Singapore Literature Prize. ^[10]

Deaths

• 23 November – Yusof bin Ishak, 1st President of Singapore (b. 1910). ^[7]

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. "Online project highlights key days of our lives". The New Paper. 24 December 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
7. "Cabinet pays last respects". The Straits Times, (Retrieved from NewspaperSG). 24 November 1970. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
8. "Gwee Li Sui". NLB. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
9. "Dave Chua". NLB. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
10. "Paul Tan". NLB. Retrieved 29 October 2019.