1971 in Singapore

← 1970 1969 1968 1971 in Singapore → 1972 1973 1974
Decades:	1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
See also:	Other events of 1971 Timeline of Singaporean history

The following lists events that happened during 1971 in Singapore.

Incumbents

• President: Yeoh Ghim Seng (Acting) (23 November 1970 to 2 January), Benjamin Henry Sheares (starting 2 January)
• Prime Minister: Lee Kuan Yew

Events

January

• 1 January – The Monetary Authority of Singapore was established to regulate the financial sector and as Singapore's central bank.^[1]
• 2 January – Dr Benjamin Henry Sheares becomes the second President of Singapore.^[2]
• 3 January – Jurong Bird Park opens to the public.^[3]
• 14–22 January - Singapore hosts the 18th Conference of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
• 29 January – The Preservation of Monuments Board was established to identify and safeguard buildings of great historical value and recommend as national monuments.^[4]

February

• 1 February – The National Sports Promotion Board is formed to promote and develop sports in Singapore.^[5]

March

• 15 March – The Staff Training Institute (now the Civil Service College) is established to train civil servants.^[6]

April

• 15–16 April – Singapore, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Australia, and New Zealand sign the Five Power Defence Arrangements. The agreement comes into effect on 1 November the same year.^[7]
• 23 April –
  • The Shangri-La Hotel Singapore is opened.
  • The first Concept Plan is unveiled, which proposes a 'Ring Plan'.^[8]

May

• 11 May – Local newspapers Eastern Sun and the Singapore Herald were accused by then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew of having been involved in "black operations".^[9] They later shut down on 18 May and 28 May respectively.^[9][10]

July

• 14 July – The Jurong Drive-in Cinema is opened as Singapore's first and only open-air drive-in cinema. The cinema operated for 15 years until its closure on 30 September 1985.^[11]
• 30 July – Singapore's first sex reassignment surgery is performed on a 24-year-old who becomes a woman after the surgery, led by Dr S. S. Ratnam. The surgery is declared a success.^[12]

October

• 23 October – The Sentosa Satellite Earth Station is officially launched, making it Singapore's first Satellite Earth Station.^[13]
• 31 October – The last British military forces withdraws from Singapore.^[14]

November

• 2 November – The Central Narcotics Bureau is set up to tackle the problem of drugs in Singapore.
• 7 November – The first Tree Planting Day is launched by Dr Goh Keng Swee in Mount Faber.^[15]

December

• 1 December – The Singapore Traction Company ceases operations.
• 2 December – The Clean Air Act is passed to deal with pollution caused by early industrialisation.^[16]
• 29 December – The Gold Bars triple murders saw a gold merchant and his two employees robbed and killed by a group of 10 men. Seven of the 10 men were sentenced to death for the crime; the remaining three were indefinitely detained for lengthy periods before their release.^[17]

Date unknown

• Tower 1 of Mandarin Orchard Singapore is opened.

Births

• 27 January – Fann Wong, actress.
• 30 January – Bryan Wong, actor.
• 23 July – Christopher Lee, Malaysia-born Singaporean actor.
• Daren Shiau, writer, lawyer, and environmental activist.^[18]
• Selena Tan, producer, director, writer, and actress.

Deaths

• 7 February – Chen Yoh Shoo, former Chairman of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (b. 1900).^{[citation needed]}
• 26 June – Goh Chew Chua, former Assemblyman for Tampines Constituency (b. 1897).^[19]
• 21 September – Tan Chor Lam, Chinese businessman and first chairman of the Nanyang Branch of the Tongmenghui (b. 1884).^[20]

References