1979 in Singapore

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← 1978 1977 1976 1979 in Singapore → 1980 1981 1982
Decades:	1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
See also:	Other events of 1979 Timeline of Singaporean history

The following lists events that happened during 1979 in Singapore.

Incumbents

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

Events

January

• 11 January – The Singapore Refining Company is formed by three oil companies, namely Singapore Petroleum Company, Chevron and BP. ^[1]
• 24 January – The Singapore Symphony Orchestra is formed, playing its first concert. ^[2]

April

• 1 April – The Vocational and Industrial Training Board is formed from a merger between the Industrial Training Board (ITB) and the Adult Education Board (AEB). The Board handles vocational and industrial training until the formation of Institute of Technical Education in 1992. ^[3]
• 16 April – Plans for Raffles City, a future mixed-use development, are unveiled with a model shown to the public. The development will include a mall, an office block and 3 hotel towers; with one standing at about 200 metres high. Costing about S$600m, the development was targeted for completion in 1983, but it only opened in 1986. ^[4]
• 20 April – Mitsukoshi Garden is officially opened in Jurong. ^[5]
• 30 April – The government acquired land of the Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Teng Cemetery and plans to redeveloped it into the Bishan New Town. ^[6]

June

• 1 June – The first National Courtesy Campaign is launched. ^[7]
• 27 June – Sentosa Development Corporation announced a new monorail system that will replace double-decker buses, as well as a new 10-storey luxury hotel on Fort Siloso. ^[8]

July

• 1 July – The four-digit postal code system takes effect, replacing the previous system used since 1950. ^[9] The system, first announced on 25 April, will help in automating mail sorting processes. ^[10]
• 30 July – The Ulu Pandan Incineration Plant is officially opened, making it Singapore's first incineration plant. ^[11]

September

• 7 September – The first Speak Mandarin Campaign is launched to encourage Chinese Singaporeans to speak Mandarin instead of dialects. ^[12]

October

• 15 October – The first automated teller machine (ATM) in Singapore is launched. ^[13]
• 20 October – The first McDonald's outlet opened in Liat Towers. ^[14]

Date unknown

• Singapore becomes the world's second busiest port in terms of shipping tonnage.

Births

• 13 February – Jesseca Liu, actress.
• 2 May – Joscelin Yeo, former national swimmer. ^[15]
• 26 June – Alaric Tay, actor.
• 28 June – Jeanette Aw, actress.
• 30 June – Rosanne Wong, former singer and 2R member.
• 10 July – Sun Xueling, politician.
• 25 November – Chua En Lai, actor.
• 25 December – Celest Chong, actress and former singer.

Deaths

• 2 September – Checha Davies - Activist, volunteer, social worker (b. 1898). ^[16]
• 3 September – Lim Cheng Hoe - Pioneering watercolourist (b. 1912). ^[17]
• 2 November – Jah Lelawati - Bangsawan actress, writer (b. 1937). ^[18]

References

1. "Singapore refining companies". SG process industry. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
2. Jan Yap. "Singapore Symphony Orchestra". Singapore Infomedia. National Library Board Singapore.
3. "Vocational and Industrial Training Board (VITB)". NLB. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
4. "The $600m Raffles City". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 17 April 1979. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
5. "You can now visit Mitsukoshi Garden". The Business Times (retrieved from NLB). 21 April 1979. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
6. Wee, Paul (30 April 1979). "Govt acquires site for housing scheme to link Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio estates". NewspaperSG. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
7. "Launch of first National Courtesy Campaign". NLB. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
8. "Monorail for Sentosa". New Nation (retrieved from NLB). 28 June 1979. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
9. "New post code to subdivide districts". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 26 April 1979. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
10. "New postal code system from July 1". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 3 May 1979. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
11. "Singapore's first waste-to-energy plant shuts down". Asiaone. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
12. "Speak Mandarin Campaign is launched". NLB. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
13. "Instant cash' through an automatic teller". The Straits Times. 10 February 1980. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
14. "Fast-food chains". NLB. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
15. "Joscelin Yeo Wei Ling". NLB. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
16. "Checha Davies". NLB. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
17. "Lim Cheng Hoe". NLB. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
18. "Jah Lelawati". NLB. Retrieved 29 October 2019.