City of Singapore (historical entity)

This article is about the former city within Singapore. For the modern republic, see Singapore. For the present-day city-centre, see Central Area, Singapore.

Singapore
City
City of Singapore
Port view, 1960 Victoria Theatre and Memorial Hall High Street, 1963 Raffles Hotel Supreme Court and City Hall buildings Bumboats on the Singapore River
Map of the area in 1951, the year it was conferred city status.
Coordinates: 1°17′30″N103°51′00″E / 1.29167°N 103.85000°E / 1.29167; 103.85000
Country	United Kingdom (1826–1963) Malaysia (1963–1965)
State	Colony of Singapore (1951–1959) State of Singapore (1959–1965)
Government
• Type	City council
•  Mayor	Ong Eng Guan
Area
• Total	17.84 km2 (6.89 sq mi)
Demonym	Singaporean
Time zone	UTC+07:30 (MALT)
Postal districts	1, 6, 7, 8, 9

The City of Singapore ^[a] was a city within the Colony of Singapore, a British crown colony, and later formed part of the State of Singapore within Malaysia, administered by the City Council as its local governing authority. Before 1951, the City Council was known as the Municipal Commission, and the area was referred to as the Town of Singapore. ^[1] Singapore was formally accorded city status by the United Kingdom in 1951. ^{[2] [3]}

The remainder of the crown colony outside the city was administered by the Singapore Rural Board. ^[4] The city functioned as the capital of Singapore until its abolishment in 1965. ^{[1] [5]} Today, the Central Area, which sits in the south-eastern corner of Singapore, mostly corresponds with what was once the City of Singapore, and the usage of "Singapore" now refers to all of the territories under the Republic of Singapore as a city-state.

History

See also: Singapore in the Straits Settlements

Creation and subsequent elections

In the 1948 and 1951 general elections in Singapore, constituencies were drawn along the boundary of the Municipal Commission and the Rural Board, each area was subdivided into a number of constituencies. ^{[6] [7]}

The municipality was then conferred with city status by a royal charter from King George VI on 22 September 1951, when Singapore was then a Crown colony. ^[1] The original Municipal Commission was therefore renamed as the City Council, and the Municipal Building was renamed City Hall.

Between the 1957 election and the phasing out of the city, Ong Eng Guan of the People's Action Party (PAP) was the mayor as the leader of the largest party within the City Council. Ong went on to become Minister of National Development under Lee Kuan Yew's premiership.

Dissolution

After the PAP gained power following the 1959 general election and formed the first government after self-government was granted to the Crown colony, the city was phased out, with powers transferred to statutory boards. ^[8]

In 1965, upon Singapore's expulsion from Malaysia, the Republic of Singapore Independence Act 1965 provided the following clause which empowered the President to abolish the City Council and the Rural Board, with the powers of the local authorities assumed by the Government.

President may by order make such modifications in any written law as appear to him to be necessary or expedient in consequence of the abolition of the City Council and of the Rural Board and of the assumption of the powers of the local authorities by the Government.

See also

• British overseas cities
• City status in the United Kingdom
• George Town, Penang
• Victoria, Hong Kong
• List of cities in Malaysia

Notes

1. Malay: Bandaraya Singapura; Chinese :新加坡市; Tamil: சிங்கப்பூர் நகரம்

References

1. "City day". Singapore Infopedia. National Library Board . Retrieved 9 September 2025.
2. "Page 4045 | Issue 39296, 27 July 1951 | London Gazette | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
3. "Singapore is conferred city status - Singapore History". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
4. "Singapore Rural Board". www.nas.gov.sg. National Archives of Singapore. 2025. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
5. "The story of the two city halls". The Straits Times (Archived on NewspaperSG). 20 September 1953. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
6. "Singapore Legislative Council General Election 1948". Archived from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
7. "Singapore Legislative Council General Election 1951". Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
8. "Singapore Elections". Archived from the original on 28 January 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2015.