1979 in Singapore

Incumbents

• President: Benjamin Henry Sheares
• Prime Minister: Lee Kuan Yew

  Events

January

• 11 January - The Singapore Refining Company is formed by 3 oil companies, namely the Singapore Petroleum Company, Chevron and BP.
• 24 January - The Singapore Symphony Orchestra is formed, playing its first concert.

  April

• 1 April - The Vocational and Industrial Training Board is formed from a merger between the Industrial Training Board and the Adult Education Board. The Board handles vocational and industrial training until the formation of Institute of Technical Education in 1992.
• 16 April - Plans for Raffles City, a future mixed-use development, are unveiled with a model shown to the public. The development will include a mall, an office block and 3 hotel towers; with one standing at about 200 metres high. Costing about S$600m, the development was targeted for completion in 1983, but it only opened in 1986.
• 20 April - Mitsukoshi Garden is officially opened in Jurong.

  June

• 1 June - The first National Courtesy Campaign is launched.
• 27 June - Sentosa Development Corporation announced a new monorail system that will replace double-decker buses, as well as a new 10-storey luxury hotel on Fort Siloso.

  July

• 1 July - The four-digit postal code system takes effect, replacing the previous system used since 1950. The system, first announced on 25 April, will help in automating mail sorting processes.
• 30 July - The Ulu Pandan Incineration Plant is officially opened, making it Singapore's first incineration plant.

  September

• 7 September - The first Speak Mandarin Campaign is launched to encourage Chinese Singaporeans to speak Mandarin instead of dialects.

  October

• 15 October - The first automated teller machine in Singapore is launched.
• 20 October - The first McDonald's outlet opened in Liat Towers.

  Date unknown

• Singapore becomes the world's second busiest port in terms of shipping tonnage.

  Births

• 2 May - Joscelin Yeo - Former national swimmer.
• 26 June - Alaric Tay - Singaporean actor.
• Ashley Isham - Fashion designer.

  Deaths

• 2 September - Checha Davies - Activist, volunteer, social worker.
• 3 September - Lim Cheng Hoe - Pioneering watercolourist.
• 2 November - Jah Lelawati - Bangsawan actress, writer.