1978 in Singapore

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← 1977 1976 1975 1978 in Singapore → 1979 1980 1981
Decades:	1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
See also:	Other events of 1978 Timeline of Singaporean history

The following lists events that happened during 1978 in Singapore.

Incumbents

• President: Benjamin Henry Sheares
• Prime Minister: Lee Kuan Yew

Events

April

• 25 April – Police national serviceman Lee Kim Lai was murdered for his revolver by Ong Chin Hock, Yeo Ching Boon and Ong Hwee Kuan. En route to kidnapping him from his sentry post at Mount Vernon, they also killed the taxi driver, Chew Theng Hin. ^[1]

October

• 12 October – The Spyros disaster occurred at Jurong Shipyard, resulting in 76 fatalities. ^[2]

November

• 10–11 November – Floods occurred in Singapore, leaving 2 fatalities. ^[3]
• 12–14 November – Then Senior Vice-Premier of the People's Republic of China Deng Xiaoping visits Singapore, setting the foundation for China–Singapore relations before being formally established on 3 October 1990. The governments discussed regional security and Deng visited the HDB. ^[4]

December

• 2–3 December – Another flood hit Singapore after about 512 millimetres (20.2 in) of rain fell in just 24 hours, causing 7 fatalities. ^[5]
• 6–10 December – Evangelist Billy Graham visits Singapore for a crusade. ^{[6] [7]}

Births

• 13 February – Desmond Choo, politician.
• 23 July – Stefanie Sun, singer.
• 24 September – Jean Danker, radio DJ.
• 4 October – Amrin Amin, politician.
• 3 November – Shaun Chen, actor.

Deaths

• 27 February – Tan Teck Neo, philanthropist and socialite (b. 1877). ^[8]
• 26 March – Chan Hock Wah, political detainee (b. 1932). ^[9]
• 16 April – Abdul Hamid Jumat, former Deputy Chief Minister of Singapore (b. 1917). ^[10]
• 23 April – Teo Soon Kim, first woman admitted to the Straits Settlements bar (b. 1904). ^[11]
• 4 June – Perumal Govindaswamy, MP for Anson Constituency (b. 1911). ^{[12] [13]}
• 1 July – Lee Teck Him, former legislative assemblyman for Tiong Bahru Constituency (b. 1906). ^[14]
• 13 December – Thio Chan Bee, educationist and politician (b. 1904). ^[15]

References

1. "Suspect held even before police knew of murders". The Straits Times . 26 April 1978.
2. "Spyros accident". NLB. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
3. "Major floods in Singapore". NLB. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
4. "Chinese Senior Vice-Premier Deng Xiaoping visits Singapore". NLB. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
5. "Singapore's worst floods". NLB. 1999. Archived from the original on 22 January 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
6. "SBS plans three services for Graham crusade". New Nation (Retrieved from NLB). 5 December 1978. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
7. Zaccheus, Melody (23 February 2018). "Christians in Singapore pay tribute to Billy Graham (premium article)". The Straits Times. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
8. "Grand Old Lady of Singapore dies at 100". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 28 February 1978. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
9. "IN MEMORIAM". NewspaperSG. 28 March 1978. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
10. Zakir Hussain (2 May 2013). "A Johor candidate's Singapore story". The Straits Times .
11. "Teo Soon Kim". NLB. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
12. "LATEST MP for Anson dies". NewspaperSG. 5 June 1978. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
13. "P. GOVINDASWAMY". NewspaperSG. 6 June 1978. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
14. "Hormat dari PM Lee". NewspaperSG. 4 July 1978. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
15. "Thio Chan Bee". www.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 11 December 2024.