GOVERNMENT & SOCIETY SINGAPORE BOOK OF RECORDS


Government Last Ruler Of Temasek


The Sejarah Melayu (Malay Annals) recorded that the last ruler of old Singapore (Temasek) was Iskandar Shah, the founder of Malacca. The Keramat Iskandar Shah located at the foot of Fort Canning is believed to be where he was buried after he died in the early 15th Century.


First Resident


Major William Farquhar was the Resident in Malacca in 1803. He spoke Malay and married a Malaccan girl. He came to Singapore with Raffl es in Jan 1819 and helped negotiate the agreements with the local chieftain Temenggong and Sultan Husain Shah. On 7 Feb 1819, Raffl es appointed Farquhar as Singapore’s fi rst Resident to develop the colony.


First And Only Chinese Capitan


Tan Kou Sing was appointed capitan by the British to be the leader of the Chinese community. The title was abolished when the administration of Singapore was transferred from Bencoolen to Bengal in 1824. Tan Kou Sing was a gaming tax collector, trader and contractor.


First Asian Member Of Executive Council


Hoo Ah Kay, nick- named ‘Whampoa’ after his birthplace, made his fortune in provisioning ships, merchandising, and speculating in land. He later became the fi rst Asian member of Singapore’s Legislative Council and a member of the Executive Council in 1867.


China’s First Consul In Singapore


China’s ruling Qing Dynasty began setting up Chinese consulates in South-East Asia with the rise of wealthy Chinese immigrants. Whampoa Hoo Ah Kay was appointed Singapore’s fi rst consul in 1877 to strengthen the cultural ties between the Singapore Chinese and China.


First Elections


Singapore’s very fi rst elections were held on 21 Mar 1948. Only six out of 22 were elected seats while British-appointed offi cials occupied the rest. PP was the only dominant political party and the other candidates were independents. Voting was not compulsory and was restricted to British subjects only. There were 22,395 registered voters and 14,126 turned out.


Inaugural PAP Meeting


In Nov 1954, the People’s Action Party was inaugurated at a gathering of 1,500 people in Victoria Memorial Hall. It was led by 25 year- old Lee Kuan Yew, as Secretary-General, and founder members Toh Chin Chye, Goh Keng Swee and S Rajaratnam.


First PAP Branch


The fi rst PAP branch was set up at 140 Neil Road, Tanjong Pagar, in Jun 1955. It was also the party’s headquarters from 1955-57.


First By-Election In Self-Government


On 26 Apr 1957, David Marshall challenged Lee Kuan Yew to resign and contest a by- election in Tanjong Pagar. Lee readily accepted the challenge but Marshall, announced his departure from politics instead. The by- election proceeded on 29 Jun 1957 and Lee was returned with 67.5 percent of the votes.


First Elections For A Fully-Elected House


The fi rst elections for a fully-elected House in self-governing Singapore was held on 30 May 1959. For the fi rst time, voting was compul- sory. The People’s Action Party won 43 of the 51 seats contested and opposition leader Lee Kuan Yew became the fi rst Prime Minister of Singapore.


First Elections With Self- Government And Chief Minister


This fi rst Legisla- tive Assembly elections was held on 28 Feb 1955 under the framework of the Rendel Constitution (introduced in 1955 to allow Singapore a more self-independent governance). There were 25 elected seats, with the British appointing seven seats. Labour Front party leader David Marshall became Singapore’s fi rst Chief Minister. He served for only a year.


Government With Smallest Majority


Holding just 39 seats after two by-election defeats and two defections to the opposition, PAP expelled 13 of its Assemblymen in an open political battle between two factions and was left hanging onto a one-seat majority of 26 to 25. When PAP’s Ho Puay Choo joined Barisan Socialis, it brought PAP 25 to 26 against the opposition. Former PAP Assembly- man SV Lingam switched back, and PAP was back with its one-seat majority. Five days later, PAP Minister Ahmad bin Ibrahim passed away to leave a 25 to 25 stand-off in the House. PAP called for general elections and on 21 Sep 1963, it won 37 out of the 51 seats.


Most Contests In A Constituency


The only general elections with seven- cornered contests were held on 30 May 1959. In one of these contests, Sahorah bte Ahmat of the PAP won the Siglap constituency. Mohamed Ariff bin Suradi of the PAP won the Ulu Pandan constituency in the other contest with seven candidates.


First One-Party Government


For the fi rst time, PAP returned to power on nomination day of 17 Feb 1968. On polling day of 13 Apr 1968, it won all seats to return a single-party Parliament.


First And Only Referendum


The Singapore national referendum of 1962, also commonly referred to as the Merger Ref- erendum, was the fi rst and only referendum held in Singapore. The referendum held on 1 Sep 1962 called for people to vote on the terms of merger with Malaysia.


First Singapore Citizens


The Singapore Citizenship Ordinance was passed on 16 Oct 1957 providing Singapore citizenship for all born in Singapore or the Federation of Malaya and for British citizens with two years’ residence. Naturalisation was off ered to those who had resided in Singapore for ten years and would swear loyalty to the government. The fi rst day of citizenship registration was 1 Nov that year. Among the fi rst few people who obtained their citizenship certifi cates were Lien Ying Chow and MPD Nair.


Longest Speech In Parliament


From 20-21 Nov 1961, Dr Lee Siew Choh, leader of the Barisan Socialis, spoke for seven and a half hours during the debate on Singapore’s proposed merger with Malaysia. His marathon speech, which was broken up by several tea breaks, went from 2.30 pm to 8.00 pm on the fi rst day and from 3.00 pm to 7.00 pm on the second day. In another sitting in 1963, Dr Lee spoke continuously for almost six hours from 11.30 pm to 6.00 am the next morning on ‘the torture in prison experienced by his arrested party members’.


Longest Political Detainee


PAGE 116


Chia Thye Poh was the longest-serving political detainee in Singapore. Detained under the Internal Security Act in 1966, he was imprisoned for 22 years and six months, and subsequently placed under internal exile for another nine years when his movement was confi ned to the island of Sentosa. Chia was a former MP for Jurong constituency and a former member of the now defunct Barisan Sosialis.


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