Year 1963
SSO Founded
Wednesday, 24th January 1979
Singapore’s first professional orchestra, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) was founded.
Singapore Refining Company Formed
Thursday, 11th January 1979
Singapore Refining Company, or SRC, was the first joint processing refinery in Southeast Asia. SRC was a joint venture between Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC), British Petroleum Singapore (BP) and Caltex Petroleum Corporation.
Rain caused floods around Singapore
Saturday, 2nd December 1978
A torrential downpour resulted in the heaviest rainfall for the decade. Rainfall during the 24-hour period - at 512.4 mm - was the highest ever recorded. The SAF, together with the Police, were called upon to handle one of Singapore’s biggest flood rescue and evacuation operations. Equipped with standard rescue procedures and the raw enthusiasm of our servicemen, the Ministry of Defence Operations Centre implemented the contingency plan, Operation Menolong. As most of the roads were impassable to heavy traffic, assault boats and dinghies were deployed to evacuate residents to higher ground. At Potong Pasir alone, more than 200 villagers were evacuated and housed in the Kim Keat community centre; others were housed in St. Andrew’s School. The boats were used to evacuate people from four other sub-merged areas - Kampong San Teng, Lorong Buangkok, Lorong Kudang and Lorong Chuan.
The Spyros disaster
Thursday, 12th October 1978
An explosion occurred in the engine room of the Greek tanker Spyros, at Jurong shipyard. The SAF was asked to assist in evacuating the victims to the hospitals. Immediately, a task force of servicemen, ambulances and RSAF helicopters was mobilised to assist in the casualty evacuation operations. Apart from ferrying the injured by ambulances, the SAF also mobilised RSAF helicopters to ferry victims in critical condition to the Singapore General Hospital. The Spyros disaster which claimed the lives of 80 people and injured many others.
Drama Festival
Tuesday, 1st August 1978
The first Drama Festival was held between 1 - 13 August 1978 as part of National Day celebrations. It was launched by the Ong, Teng Cheong, acting Minister of Culture, at the Victoria Theatre and the first play was Ping Sheh Peking troupe's Madam White Snake. It was funded by Nanyang Siang Pau with at least 15 plays performed in the four national languages, profiling the talent of local troupes. Despite some criticisms over poor acting, the response to the festival marked a new stage in local drama production.
Skyhawk Crashed Into Chicken Farm
Saturday, 4th February 1978
Unidentified pilot and copilot ejected safely before their Singapore Air Force A-4 Skyhawk trainer aircraft crashed in a poultry farm destroying a farmhouse and 8,000 chickens.
Singapore Science Centre opens
Saturday, 10th December 1977
Singapores well-known Science Centre was opened by Health Minister Dr Toh Chin Chye, who was the Minister-in-charge of the Science Board. The Centre, now a tourist draw and a top attraction for students, has become a premier scientific institution specialising in the sharing of scientific and technological expertise. The theme for its main opening exhibit was Time, tracing back the history of time before the invention of clocks and watches.
Haze covers entire island of Singapore
Thursday, 27th October 1977
Forest fires raging from Sumatra shrouded the whole of Singapore in smoky haze. Visibility was so poor in some areas that familiar towering skyscrapers could hardly be seen from a short distance. Overnight change in wind direction carried the haze over here and to Peninsular Malaysia. The haze was 366m high according to the Meteorological Department of Singapore.
HP Calculator Factory Opened
Thursday, 29th September 1977
Hewlett-Packard opened its $21 Million Calculator Factory located in Alexandra by HP's Co-Founder & CEO Mr Bill Hewlett. The Singapore factory have 1,500 worker to make a variety of hand-held calculators for science, business and education. All the calculators made are packed and exported to all countries outside USA, namely Europe and Asia.
Operation Ferret
Friday, 1st April 1977
An island wide “Operation Ferret” was launched on 1 April to flush out an estimated 13,000 heroin abusers. Additional DRCs (Drug Rehabilitation Centre) had to be acquired and gazetted to accommodate the drug abusers. By the year end, 6,972 drug abusers were arrested and incarcerated in DRCs.
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