1991 in Singapore

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← 1990 1989 1988 1991 in Singapore → 1992 1993 1994
Decades:	1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
See also:	Other events of 1991 Timeline of Singaporean history

The following lists events that happened during 1991 in Singapore.

Incumbents

• President: Wee Kim Wee
• Prime Minister: Goh Chok Tong

Events

January

• 2 January – New machine-readable passports are issued.
• 11 January – The National Science and Technology Board is formed to enhance R&D activities in Singapore. ^[1]
• 15 January – The five Shared Values of Singapore are adopted. ^[2]

February

• 23 February – Civics and moral education is introduced, replacing religious knowledge lessons in schools. ^[3]

March

• 2 March – The National Trades Union Congress launches two radio stations, NTUC Heart Radio 91.3 and NTUC Heart Radio 100.3. ^[4]
• 16 March – The New Horizon Centre is officially opened, making it the first day care centre to look after those with dementia. ^[5]
• 26 March – Four Pakistanis hijack Singapore Airlines Flight 117 and demand the release of Pakistan Peoples Party members from Pakistani jails. ^[6]
• 27 March – Members of the Singapore Special Operations Force storm into Singapore Airlines Flight 117, killing all hijackers and freeing all passengers and crew members. ^[6]

May

• 4 May – Filipina domestic worker Delia Maga and her 4-year-old charge, Nicholas Huang are found murdered in their flat. Flor Contemplacion was subsequently tried for the murders and found guilty. ^[7]
• 13 May – Underwater World opens its doors. ^{[8] [9]}
• 31 May – The Van Kleef Aquarium closes after falling visitorship. ^{[10] [11]}

June

• 1 June – Changi Airport Terminal 2 is officially opened. ^[12]
• 3 June – The first National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) replacement exercise takes place in MacPherson Community Club in a programme spanning three years. The programme replaces the existing laminated NRICs to credit-card sized ones with features for higher security. It will also indicate blood types for use in emergencies. ^[13]
• 6 June – The Civil Defence Academy starts construction. When completed in 1995, the S$63 million complex spanning nine-hectares will train Singapore Civil Defence Force officers, as well as offer computer simulations. ^[14]
• 29 June – IMM opens its doors.

July

• 1 July -
  • Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is formed as Singapore's second university, previously known as the Nanyang Technological Institute. ^[15]
  • The National Institute of Education (NIE) is formed from the merger of Institute of Education (IE) and the College of Physical Education (CPE). The institution is now part of NTU. ^[16]

August

• 1 August – The Singapore International Foundation is formed to help in diplomacy. ^[17]
• 2 August – Two areas in Singapore, namely the Central and Changi areas are gazetted as Tree Conservation Areas. ^[18]
• 31 August – In the 1991 General Election, the People's Action Party team led by Goh Chok Tong won 77 out of 81 seats (including 41 uncontested seats) with a vote share of 61.0%; then the lowest vote share since surpassed by the 2011 General Election; which had 60.1%. The opposition won the remaining four, in which three seats went to the Singapore Democratic Party and one seat to the Workers' Party. ^[19]

September

• 21 September – The second phase of the Central Expressway opens. ^[20]

October

• 4 October – The Van Kleef Aquarium reopens as the World of Aquarium. ^{[21] [11]}
• 15 October – The National Arts Council is formed to spearhead the development of the arts in Singapore.
• 16 October – PolyView is launched to enhance education and IT services. This comes after the release of the IT2000 masterplan a few weeks earlier. ^[22]

November

• 24 November – The Keppel-Brani causeway is officially opened, making it the first road link between Singapore and an island. ^[23]

Births

• 28 January – Sufi Rashid - Singaporean singer.
• 16 February – Aliff Aziz - Singaporean singer and actor ^[24]
• 15 March – Atikah Suhaime - Singaporean actress.
• 21 June – Sachin Mylavarapu, Singaporean cricketer
• 26 July – Nathan Hartono, Singaporean singer and runner-up of Sing! China (season 1). ^[25]
• Jerrold Yam, Singaporean poet and lawyer.

Deaths

• 25 January – Ismail Marjan, badminton player (b. 1920). ^[26]
• 6 February – Ismail Rahim, former legislative assemblyman for Geylang East Constituency and founding member of the PAP (b. 1917). ^[27]
• 17 March – Li Rulin, Chinese literary pioneer (b. 1914). ^[28]
• 25 July – Zena Tessensohn, founding member of the Girls' Sports Club (b. 1909). ^[29]
• 9 December – Gerald de Cruz, journalist and Organising Secretary of the Malayan Democratic Union (b. 1920). ^{[30] [31]}
• 17 December – Chen Wen Hsi, pioneer artist (b. 1906). ^[32]

References

1. "National Science and Technology Board is formed". National Library Board. 2013. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
2. "Shared Values are adopted". National Library Board. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
3. "Civics and moral education is introduced". National Library Board. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
4. "Official Opening of NTUC Radio Heart at Singapore Labour Foundation (SLF) Building" (PDF). NAS. 2 March 1991. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
5. "Official Opening of the New Horizon Centre at Lorong 2 Toa Payoh" (PDF). NAS. 16 March 1991. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
6. Choy Choi Kee (4 May 2010). "History snippets: 1981 Onwards (A Maturing SAF): 1991 – SQ 117 Rescue". Singaporean Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) . Retrieved 21 June 2011.
7. Ministry of Information and the Arts, Singapore (1995). Flor Contemplacion: The Facts of the Case. Singapore: Ministry of Information and the Arts, Singapore. OCLC   419237137.
8. "Underwater World scores with range of marine life". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 14 May 1991. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
9. "Underwater World Singapore". NLB. 14 May 1991. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
10. "Van Kleef Aquarium to close from Saturday". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 28 May 1991. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
11. "Van Kleef Aquarium". NLB. 14 May 1991. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
12. "Speech by the Prime Minister, Mr Goh Chok Tong, at the Official Opening of the Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2, on Saturday, 1 June 1991 at 11.00 AM" (PDF). NAS. 1 June 1991. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
13. "Face that launched new IC campaign (Page 10)". The New Paper (retrieved from NLB). 4 June 1991. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
14. "Ground-breaking Ceremony for the Civil Defence Academy" (PDF). NAS. 6 June 1991. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
15. "Nanyang Technological University is established". National Library Board. February 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
16. "National Institute of Education is established". National Library Board. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
17. "Singapore International Foundation is established". National Library Board. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
18. "Tree Conservation Areas". NParks. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
19. "1991 Parliamentary General Election". National Library Board. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
20. "Primers for driving down under". The Straits Times. 21 September 1991. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
21. "World of Aquarium has a quiet opening". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 5 October 1991. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
22. "Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Singapore Polytechnic and Singapore Telecom, and launching of PolyView" (PDF). NAS. 16 October 1991. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
23. "Sentosa Causeway" . Retrieved 30 June 2019.
24. Rahman, Noor (9 March 2016). "Singer Aliff Aziz to wed after Hari Raya". Star2. Archived from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
25. "Who is Nathan Hartono? Here is The Truth Behind Indonesian Singing NDP Song 'Everything I am'".
26. "Badminton great Ismail dies". The Straits Times. 26 January 1991.
27. "Ismail Rahim meninggal dunia". NewspaperSG. 7 February 1991. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
28. "Li Rulin". NLB. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
29. "Zena Tessensohn". www.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
30. Latif, Asad-ul Iqbal, ed. (2015), "Family Tree: Gerald Evelyn de Cruz", The Life and Times of Gerald de Cruz: A Singaporean of Many Worlds, Books and Monographs, ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, pp. xi–xi, ISBN   978-981-4620-69-7 , retrieved 21 June 2025
31. "The Life and Times of Gerald de Cruz: A Singaporean of Many Worlds | ISEAS Publishing". bookshop.iseas.edu.sg. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
32. "Chen Wen Hsi". NLB. Retrieved 12 November 2019.