1972 in Singapore

← 1971 1970 1969 1972 in Singapore → 1973 1974 1975
Decades:	1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s
See also:	Other events of 1972 Timeline of Singaporean history

The following lists events that happened during 1972 in Singapore.

Incumbents

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

Events

January

• 1 January – The Post Office Savings Bank is turned into a statutory board. This allows the bank more freedom to run its operations.^[1]

February

• 7 February – The National Wages Council is set up to ensure sustainable wages. This comes after wages have risen quickly the previous year.^[2][3]

April

• 1 April – The Telephone Department is converted into a statutory board called the Telecommunication Authority of Singapore.^[4]
• 2 April – The Singapore Grand Prix is won by Max Stewart.^[5]

May

• 12 May – The National Productivity Board is formed to encourage productivity.^[6]

June

• 15 June – The SAF Act comes into effect, allowing for effective management of the Singapore Armed Forces. The Act merges the air, sea and land vocations and establishes the Armed Forces Council.^[7]

July

• 2 July – Singapore Armed Forces Reservist Association is officially launched.
• 20 July – The Stop at Two policy is unveiled to encourage people to have smaller families.^[8][9]

August

• 17 August – Work starts on the Brani Naval Base.

September

• 1 September – The Sentosa Development Corporation is formed to manage Sentosa and the outlying islands to attract tourists.^[10]
• 2 September – The People's Action Party wins the 1972 General Election.^[11]
• 15 September – The first Merlion Park is officially opened.^[12]
• 17 September – 22-year-old Cheng Li Zhen is shot dead while walking through Queenstown; the crime remains unsolved.^[13]

October

• 1 October – Singapore Airlines starts its first flights.
• 13 October – Heavy fog, an environmental phenomenon that had built up since the beginning of the month, causes gridlock and other problems throughout Singapore.^[14]
• 24 October – Disincentives are announced to nudge families into having only two children, taking effect on 1 August 1973. Among them are progressive reduction of income tax relief to the first three children; increase in childbirth fees depending on births; reduction of paid maternity leave from three to two confinements; and lowering priority of HDB flats allocations for large families (more than two children).^[15]

November

• 21 November – A fire engulfs the Robinson's Department Store, causing 9 deaths. In addition, the impact of the fire damaged the roof of the Overseas Union Bank building and forced the Stock Exchange to stop trading for the day. As a result, this makes the fire one of the worst in Singapore's history.^[16][17]

December

• 15 December -
  • OCBC acquires Four Seas Communications Bank.^[18]
  • SATS Ltd is established as a separate company from Singapore Airlines to manage ground operations and inflight catering services.

Date unknown

• The OG building is officially opened.^[19]
• Three Rifles Holdings is founded, becoming a company selling clothes.^[20]
• Specialists' Shopping Centre is opened in Orchard Road. It has since been demolished.
• The first Guardian store is opened by Cold Storage.^[21]
• Shaw Centre is opened.

Births

• 22 February – Dasmond Koh, actor.^[22]
• 26 April – Diana Ser, journalist, media personality.
• 15 September – Kit Chan, singer.^[23]
• 30 September – Darren Lim, actor.
• 6 November – Janil Puthucheary, politician.
• 18 December – Lawrence Wong, Minister for Finance.
• Alvin Pang - Singaporean poet.^[24]

Deaths

• 4 April – Lionel Chan – racing driver, 28 (injuries sustained in a crash during the Singapore Grand Prix)^[25]
• 5 May – Chen Su Lan – one of Singapore's first local medical graduates, philanthropist, social reformer (b. 1885).^[26]
• 5 September – Bashir Ahmad Mallal – founder of Malayan Law Journal (b. 1898).^[27]
• 11 September – Tan Lark Sye – former Chairman of the Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan and founder of the Nanyang University (b. 1897).^[28]

References