1983 in Singapore

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← 1982 1981 1980 1983 in Singapore → 1984 1985 1986
Decades:	1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
See also:	Other events of 1983 Timeline of Singaporean history

The following lists events that happened during 1983 in Singapore.

Incumbents

• President: C. V. Devan Nair
• Prime Minister: Lee Kuan Yew

Events

January

• 1 January – The Trade Development Board is formed to promote trade, taking over the Timber Industry Board and the Department of Trade with responsibility for domestic trading of commodities handled by the Domestic Trade Section of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and metrication taken over by the Singapore Institute of Standards and Industrial Research. ^[1]
• 29 January – A disaster occurred on the Singapore Cable Car. As a result, 2 cable cars plunged, causing 7 fatalities. ^[2]

February

• 5 February – The power generators at Jurong Power Station tripped, leading to a cascading effect of tripping both Senoko and Pasir Panjang Power Stations. Singapore was without power for eight hours and 42 minutes before all power was restored. ^[3]

March

• 16 March – Two Chinese newspapers, the Nanyang Siang Pau and Sin Chew Jit Poh, merged to become Lianhe Zaobao and Lianhe Wanbao .

April

• 3 April – Trans-Island Bus Services starts operations as the second bus operator in Singapore, after the bus mergers of 1971 and 1974.Therefore, TIBS was renamed and reoperated as SMRT Buses in May 10, 2004.

May

• 28 May – 6 June - Singapore hosts the 12th Southeast Asian Games. It clinched fourth place with a total of 134 medals. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

July

• 11 July – Fandi Ahmad signs for FC Groningen. ^[7]
• 23 July - National Service conscript Sek Kim Wah and his accomplice Nyu Kok Meng went to rob a rich businessman and his family who lived in Andrew Road. Sek murdered three of the victims (which included the businessman, his wife and the family maid), with the remaining two hostages (the businessman's young daughter and the girl's tuition teacher) being released by Nyu, who protected them from Sek's murderous rampage, which would make headlines nationwide and brought shock to Singaporeans in 1983. Sek, who was also involved in an unrelated double murder that occurred a month earlier, was later arrested and sentenced to death for the five murders. Nyu, who turned himself in, was subsequently incarcerated for life and caned 6 strokes for armed robbery after the prosecution decided to dismiss the murder charges against him since he did not partake in the killings Sek committed. Sek was eventually hanged in Changi Prison Complex on 9 December 1988.

August

• 1 August – The Singapore Broadcasting Corporation launches SBCtext on SBC 5 and SBC 8. ^[8]

September

• 9 September – The Community Chest of Singapore is launched by Ee Peng Liang. ^[9] This is followed by the start of fund-raising efforts two days later. ^[10]
• 16 September – Mitsukoshi Garden reopens as CN West Leisure Park. ^[11]

October

• 22 October – The first phase of the MRT system starts construction. ^[12]

December

• 3 December – David Bowie and his band visit Singapore as part of the 1983 Serious Moonlight Tour.
• 30 December – NOL's new building is officially opened. ^{[13] [14]}

Date unknown

• 100plus, a sports drink was launched to commemorate F&N's 100th anniversary.

Births

• 19 January – Sylvester Sim, Singer, runner-up of Singapore Idol (Season 1).
• 31 January – Maia Lee, Singer, contestant of Singapore Idol (Season 1).
• 11 March – Kate Pang, Actress.
• 25 April – Joanne Peh, Actress.
• 16 June – He Ting Ru, Politician.
• 11 July - Kelly Poon, Singer.
• 18 August – Tay Kewei, Singer.
• 23 December – Tin Pei Ling, Politician.

Deaths

• 16 February – Wong Lin Ken, former Minister for Home Affairs (b. 1931). ^[15]
• 23 March – Han Hoe Lim, physician and politician (b. 1894).
• 22 April – Felice Leon-Soh, politician and social worker (b. 1923). ^[16]
• 30 June – Choo Seng Quee, footballer (b. 1914). ^[17]
• 1 July – Cheong Soo Pieng, artist (b. 1917). ^[18]
• 14 October – Hon Sui Sen, former Minister for Finance (b. 1916). ^[19]

References

1. "Chandra Das named trade board chairman". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 23 December 1982. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
2. "Cable car tragedy at Sentosa". NLB. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
3. "The day S'pore switched off". The Straits Times . 6 February 1983. p. 1. Retrieved 26 January 2025– via NewspaperSG.
4. "Best 2". The Straits Times. 10 June 1983. p. 1.
5. "12th SEA Games". The Straits Times. 10 June 1983. p. 47.
6. "Singapore hosts the 12th SEA Games". HistorySG. 2014 – via NLB.
7. "Fandi goes Dutch" . Retrieved 18 July 2019.
8. "Teletext times". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 23 July 1983. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
9. "Employers have key role in making 'Chest' a success". Singapore Monitor (Afternoon ed.). 9 September 1983. p. 3. Retrieved 23 August 2019– via NewspaperSG.
10. "General Electric's Carnival '83 in aid of the Community Chest of Singapore" (PDF). NAS. 11 September 1983. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
11. "Mitsukoshi Garden sold for $4.5 m". The Business Times (retrieved from NLB). 2 June 1983. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
12. "Inaugural ceremony of the Mass Rapid Transit Corporation" (PDF). NAS. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
13. "Official Opening of Neptune Orient Lines Building" (PDF). NAS. 30 December 1983. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
14. "Opening of NOL Building Marks Event". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 30 December 1983. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
15. "Former minister Prof Wong, 51, dies". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 17 February 1983. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
16. "Ex-woman politician dies of a heart attack". NewspaperSG. 24 April 1983.
17. "Choo Seng Quee". NLB. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
18. "Cheong Soo Pieng". NLB. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
19. "Hon Sui Sen". NLB. Retrieved 26 July 2019.