1981 in Singapore

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← 1980 1979 1978 1981 in Singapore → 1982 1983 1984
Decades:	1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
See also:	Other events of 1981 Timeline of Singaporean history

The following lists significant events that happened during 1981 in Singapore.

Incumbents

• President:
  • Benjamin Henry Sheares (until 12 May), Yeoh Ghim Seng (Acting) (12 May to 23 October), C.V. Devan Nair (starting 23 October)
• Prime Minister: Lee Kuan Yew

Events

January

• 25 January and 7 February - Adrian Lim, a self-professed medium, Catherine Tan Mui Choo and Hoe Kah Hong murders two children as "sacrifices" in a case known as the Toa Payoh ritual murders. This case becomes the second-longest murder trial in Singapore at that time, taking 41 days to complete. The three suspects are found guilty and sentenced to hang. The sentences are carried out on 25 November 1988. ^[1]

March

• March - Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Tommy Koh, assumes the presidency of the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea.

April

• 15 April – The Vanda Miss Joaquim is declared Singapore's national flower. ^[2]

May

• 12 May – Singapore's second President Dr Benjamin Henry Sheares dies while in office. ^[3] Speaker of Parliament Yeoh Ghim Seng temporarily serves as acting president during that time.
• 22 May – The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation is formed. ^[4]

July

• 1 July – Changi Airport starts operation. ^[5] On the same day, the former Paya Lebar Airport is handed over to the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), forming the Paya Lebar Air Base. ^[6] The Air Base will also handle spillover traffic and emergencies too. ^[7]
• 4 July – The National Crime Prevention Council is officially launched to prevent crime. ^[8]

August

• 1 August – Nanyang Technological Institute is established to train engineers.
• 22 August – Changi Airport's second runway starts construction, which will be completed by mid-1984. The rest of Phase 2 will be finished by 1986. ^[9]

September

• 1 September – The National Computer Board is formed to computerise the Civil Service and make Singapore an IT pioneer. ^[10]
• 12 September – The new Singapore General Hospital is officially opened. ^[11]
• 26 September – The Benjamin Sheares Bridge is officially opened. The bridge is part of the East Coast Parkway until 2013, when it becomes an arterial road. ^[12]

October

• 16 October – The National Registration Office (NRO), the Registry of Citizens (ROC), the Registry of Births and Deaths (RBD), the Registry of Societies (ROS), and Martial Arts Control Unit (MACU) merged to form the National Registration Department (NRD).
• 23 October – C V Devan Nair becomes the third President of Singapore.
• 31 October – J. B. Jeyaretnam wins the 1981 Anson by-election, ending the People's Action Party's dominance in Parliament. ^[13]

November

• 9 November – The Institute of Education moves out of Paterson Road, relocating to Bukit Timah. ^[14]

December

• 29 December – Changi Airport is officially opened. ^{[15] [16]}
• 31 December – Singapore changed its time zone to UTC+08:00, celebrating New Year’s Day half an hour earlier at 11.30pm, when all clocks were set forward to 12 midnight. ^[17]

Births

• 29 January – Rui En, Actress.
• 27 March – JJ Lin, Singer.
• 17 July – Jeremy Chan, Actor.
• 25 July – Kaira Gong, Singer
• 17 August - Hong Junyang, Singer
• 4 October – Alfred Sim, Singer, winner of Project SuperStar (season 3).
• 5 October – Kelvin Tan, Singer.
• 15 November – Joanna Dong, Singer and third place of Sing! China (season 2).
• 10 December – Taufik Batisah, Singer, winner of Singapore Idol (season 1).

Deaths

• 11 January – Malcolm MacDonald, 1st British Commissioner-General for Southeast Asia (b. 1901). ^[18]
• 12 January – John Fearns Nicoll, 2nd Governor of Singapore (b. 1899). ^[19]
• 11 February – Chan Choy Siong, female politician, women's rights activist, campaigner for Women's Charter (b. 1934). ^{[20] [21]}
• 3 March – Caralapati Raghaviah Dasaratha Raj, former legislative assemblyman for Rochore Constituency (b. 1920). ^[22]
• 12 May – Dr Benjamin Henry Sheares, 2nd President of Singapore (b. 1907). ^{[3] [23]}
• 17 November – Hsu Yun Tsiao, scholar of Overseas Chinese and Southeast Asian history (b. 1905). ^[24]

References

1. Munoo, Rajendra. "Adrian Lim Murders". National Library Board, Singapore. Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
2. "Vanda Miss Joaquim is declared Singapore's national flower". NLB. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
3. "Benjamin Sheares". NLB. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
4. "Government of Singapore Investment Corporation is formed". NLB. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
5. "Goodbye Paya Lebar, here we come Changi". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 1 July 1981. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
6. "RSAF to take over P. Lebar Airport from Wednesday". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 28 June 1981. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
7. "Paya Lebar to take civilian spillover traffic and emergencies". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 30 June 1981. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
8. "Our History". NCPC. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
9. "Contract Signing and Ground Breaking Ceremony of Runway II, Changi Airport Development" (PDF). NAS. 22 August 1981. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
10. "National Computer Board is formed". NLB. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
11. "Opening of the new Singapore General Hospital" (PDF). NAS. 12 September 1981. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
12. "Benjamin Sheares Bridge". NLB. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
13. "J. B. Jeyaretnam wins Anson by-election". NLB. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
14. "Farewell to the Paterson campus". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 8 November 1981. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
15. "Opening of the Singapore Changi Airport" (PDF). NAS. 29 December 1981. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
16. "Changi Airport officially opens". NLB. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
17. "Press Release on Time Zone Adjustment, 1981". corporate.nas.gov.sg. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
18. Ap (12 January 1981). "MALCOLM MACDONALD, BRITISH ENVOY AND SON OF EX-PRIME MINISTER". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 30 June 2025.
19. "John Fearns Nicoll". NLB. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
20. "Chan Choy Siong". NLB. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
21. "Pang Boon's wife dies in accident". New Nation . 12 February 1981. p. 1. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
22. "Dasaratha Raj dies at 61". The Straits Times . 5 March 1981. pp. Page 17. Retrieved 3 March 2025.
23. Lee, Philip; Ngoo, Irene; Bala, K. (13 May 1981). "SINGAPORE MOURNS". The Straits Times . p. 1. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
24. "CHINESE SCHOLAR DIES OF HEART ATTACK". The Straits Times . 18 November 1981. pp. Page 10. Retrieved 7 January 2025.