1988 in Singapore

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← 1987 1986 1985 1988 in Singapore → 1989 1990 1991
Decades:	1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
See also:	Other events of 1988 Timeline of Singaporean history

The following lists events that happened during 1988 in Singapore.

Incumbents

• President: Wee Kim Wee
• Prime Minister: Lee Kuan Yew

Events

January

• 15 January – Catherine Lim's novel, Or Else, the Lightning God and Other Stories, is selected for the O Level exams conducted internationally in the 1989 and 1990 edition. This marks the first time Singapore literature is selected for examinations. ^{[1] [2]}

March

• 12 March – The MRT system is officially opened, with the opening of a new section from Tiong Bahru to Clementi. ^[3]

April

• April - The first Watsons store opens in Singapore. ^[4]
• 22 April – The National Blood Centre is officially opened. The new facilities will have a spacious environment, and can handle 120,000 donors, double the previous premises. The centre can handle national emergencies with mass casualties. In addition, a blood research facility and public health lab will be housed. ^[5]

June

• 1 June – Group representation constituencies (GRCs) are introduced. ^[6]
• 9 June – The National Skin Centre starts operations.
• 27 June – The National Pledge is now taken with a right fist on the chest. ^[7]

July

• 26 July – The New Paper was launched as a tabloid.

August

The OUB Centre

• 8 August – The OUB Centre (present-day One Raffles Place) is officially opened. At 280 metres, it stands as Singapore's tallest building until Guoco Tower's completion in 2016, which stands at 290 metres. ^[8]
• 10 August – Kuo Pao Kun's Mama Looking for Her Cat is staged for the first time, making it Singapore's first multilingual play. ^[9]
• 13 August – The first Malay Language and Cultural Month is officially opened. ^[10]
• 30 August – The Operations Control Centre of the Singapore MRT system is officially opened. ^[11]

September

• 3 September – The PAP wins the 1988 General Election. ^[12]

October

• 25 October – A major fire took place at the Singapore Refining Company (SRC) refinery in Pulau Merlimau. ^[13]
• 29 October – NTUC Pasir Ris Resort is officially opened. ^[14]

November

• 5 November – The fourth section of the MRT system is opened from Jurong East to Lakeside. ^[15]

December

• 20 December – The fifth section of the MRT is opened from Yishun to Khatib. ^[16]

Date unknown

• The 1988 Singapore Lunar Year of the Dragon 1oz Gold Coin was struck by the Singapore Mint in the year 1988 and belongs to the popular Lunar series of gold bullion coins. Each 24k coin contains 1 troy ounce (31.1035 grams) of gold and is legal tender with a face value of $100 ^[17]
• Portek, a medium-sized terminal operator and port equipment engineering provider is founded. ^[18]
• Zoe Tay was crowned the winner in the finals of the inaugural season of the reality television programme Star Search on SBC-8.

Births

• 29 January – Tay Kexin, Singer.
• 14 June – Sylvia Ratonel, Singer.
• 6 July – Mok Ying Ren, Singaporean long-distance runner ^[19]
• 5 August – Lawrence Wong Koon-Yat, tctor.
• 14 September – Charlie Goh, Actor.
• 3 October – Jeffrey Xu, Shanghai-based television Actor.
• 2 November – Dee Kosh, Radio DJ and YouTube personality.

Deaths

• 10 March – Lü Chen Chung, Bible Chinese translator (b. 1898). ^[20]
• 3 April – Lee Man Fong, artist (b. 1913). ^[21]
• 22 December – Kouo Shang Wei, pioneer photographer (b. 1924). ^[22]

References

1. "S'pore book is O-level text worldwide". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 16 January 1988. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
2. "Work by Catherine Lim is selected for 'O' Level study". NLB. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
3. "Official opening of the Singapore MRT system" (PDF). NAS. 12 March 1988. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
4. "Watsons". Street Directory. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
5. "Opening of the National Blood Centre" (PDF). NAS. 22 April 1988. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
6. Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (Amendment) Act 1988(No. 9 of 1988). The Constitution of the Republic of Singapore (Amendment) Bill (No. B 24 of 1987) was read in Parliament for the first time on 30 November 1987. The Second Reading took place on 12 January 1988, and it was referred to a select committee which presented its report on 5 May 1988. The bill was read for the third time and passed on 18 May 1988. It came into force on 31 May 1988.
7. "Students' new heartfelt way of saying the Pledge". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 28 June 1988. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
8. "Official Opening of the Overseas Union Bank Centre" (PDF). NAS. 8 August 1988. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
9. "First multilingual play in Singapore". NLB. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
10. "Official launching of the "Malay Language and Cultural Month 1988" at the PUB Auditorium" (PDF). NAS. 13 August 1988. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
11. "Opening of the Operations Control Centre of the Singapore MRT system" (PDF). NAS. 30 August 1988. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
12. Dieter Nohlen; Florian Grotz; Christof Hartmann (15 November 2001). Elections in Asia and the Pacific : A Data Handbook: Volume II: South East Asia, East Asia, and the South Pacific. OUP Oxford. p. 255. ISBN   978-0-19-924959-6.
13. "Pulau Merlimau refinery fire". NLB. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
14. "Official Opening of the NTUC Pasir Ris Resort" (PDF). NAS. 29 October 1988. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
15. "Opening of Section 4 of the MRT system at Jurong East station" (PDF). NAS. 5 November 1988. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
16. "Opening of Section 5 of the MRT system at Yishun station" (PDF). NAS. 20 December 1988. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
17. "1988 Singapore Lunar Year of the Dragon Gold Coin". Archived from the original on 21 September 2008. Retrieved 3 November 2008.
18. "Kang, WC., 2011. "Portek eyes potential in Africa: cements niche in port services suite". The Edge Singapore, 28 Mar. p10". Archived from the original on 9 July 2012.
19. "Mok Ying Ren, "I will be training hard for a medal at the SEA Games" | Singapore Athletics" . Retrieved 26 September 2021.
20. "《吕译旧新约圣经》的翻译过程 - 生命季刊". www.cclifefl.org. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
21. "Lee Man Fong". NLB. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
22. "Kouo Shang Wei". NLB. Retrieved 29 October 2019.