Year 1970

First Batch Of Trainee Pilots Graduated

Friday, 27th November 1970

Eight cadets graduated from the No.1 FTS Course - 2LT Goh Yong Seng, 2KT Noel Tam, 2LT Wong Hee Jit, 2LT Pal Sharma, 2LT Robin Thomas, 2LT Ng Seng Ngiap and 2KT Bertram Yong. They were trained using the new fleet of BAC Strikemasters Mk 84 Trainer Jet in Singapore.


President Yusof Ishak Died

Monday, 23rd November 1970

Yusof Bin Ishak, also known as Yusof Ishak, the First President of Singapore. During his term as President, Yusof Ishak was often ill, but this didn’t stopped him from assisting the people who in need of help. Yusof Ishak passed away from heart failure at the age of 60. Yusof is buried at Kranji State Cemetery.


Biggest bank robbery in Raffles Place

Friday, 30th October 1970

Three young men took less than a minute to pull off Singapore’s biggest-ever robbery (to-date), and escaped with about One Million Singapore Dollars in busy Raffles Place. The loot was stacked in the side-car of their get-away motorcycle. The three bank robbers worked with ice-cold precision, waited until the very last second before they struck at 11.05 am outside the Chartered Bank head office in Battery Road. They were waiting for the Securicor armoured van, which carried money to the bank from the Treasury in Empress Place every day for business transactions. They managed to snatch a metal box containing the cash from the van in a split second and sped off in their motorcycle with almost no resistance.


Hindu Santa in Singapore

Sunday, 25th October 1970

The Hindu version of Santa Claus, “Deepavali Thattha”, was presented for the first time in Singapore today by the Krishna Our Guide mission. The Hindu Santa Clau idea was the mission’s way of celebrating, in local contemporary style, the familiar Festival of Lights (Deepavali). A few hundred children were showered with blessings, sweets and gifts at the Srinivasa Perumal Temple in Serangoon Road.


Singapore Welcomes MGR

Sunday, 18th October 1970

Jalan Besar Stadium never saw such wild scenes of emotion when over 10,000 local fans turned up to welcome their idol, Indian screen hero M.G. Ramachandran, popularly known as MGR. Women wept with joy and men yelled. They all shouted “Long Live MGR” reverberated round Jalan Besar Stadium as the veteran actor alighted from a Rolls Royce. The crowd stood spellbound by his voice as he spoke to them about the movie industry and his experiences. MGR and his 26-member troupe flew in from Bangkok a day before for location shooting of his film – “The youth who wanders around the world”. They shot some scenes at the Haw Par Villa in Pasir Panjang Road.


First Fighter Squadron Formed

Tuesday, 8th September 1970

The first SADC (RSAF) Squadron, named the The 140 Squadron "Osprey" Squadron. was formed. The new squadron operates 20 refurbished Hawker Hunter jet aircraft. The squadron operates out from Tengah Air Base.


RAF Jet Crashed In Sea Off Changi

Wednesday, 12th August 1970

A Royal Air Force (RAF) Lightning F6 Jet of No. 74 Squadron RAF was abandoned 19 miles east of Changi after landing gear jammed.


RAF Lightning Jet Crashed On Take-off

Monday, 27th July 1970

A Royal Air Force (RAF) Lightning F6 Jet of No. 74 Squadron RAF spun into ground on take-off from RAF Tengah.


RAF Lightning Jet Crashed In Sea

Tuesday, 26th May 1970

A Royal Air Force (RAF) Lightning F6 Jet of No. 74 Squadron RAF flew into the sea 50 miles north-west of Singapore along the Straits of Malacca.


Queenstown Library Opened

Thursday, 30th April 1970

Queenstown Library was officially opened by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Queenstown Library was the first public library to be located in a HDB Neighborhood. 12,600 nearby residents registered themselves as library members on opening day.


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