1979 in Singapore

Decades:	1950s; 1960s; 1970s; 1980s; 1990s;
See also:	Other events of 1979; Timeline of Singaporean history;

The following lists events that happened during 1979 in Singapore.

Incumbents

11 January – The Singapore Refining Company is formed by three oil companies, namely Singapore Petroleum Company, Chevron and BP.^[1]
24 January – The Singapore Symphony Orchestra is formed, playing its first concert.^[2]

1 April – The Vocational and Industrial Training Board is formed from a merger between the Industrial Training Board (ITB) and the Adult Education Board (AEB). The Board handles vocational and industrial training until the formation of Institute of Technical Education in 1992.^[3]
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.^[4]
20 April – Mitsukoshi Garden is officially opened in Jurong.^[5]

1 June – The first National Courtesy Campaign is launched.^[6]
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.^[7]

1 July – The four-digit postal code system takes effect, replacing the previous system used since 1950.^[8] The system, first announced on 25 April, will help in automating mail sorting processes.^[9]
30 July – The Ulu Pandan Incineration Plant is officially opened, making it Singapore's first incineration plant.^[10]

7 September – The first Speak Mandarin Campaign is launched to encourage Chinese Singaporeans to speak Mandarin instead of dialects.^[11]

15 October – The first automated teller machine (ATM) in Singapore is launched.^[12]
20 October – The first McDonald's outlet opened in Liat Towers.^[13]

2 September – Checha Davies - Activist, volunteer, social worker (b. 1898).^[15]
3 September – Lim Cheng Hoe - Pioneering watercolourist (b. 1912).^[16]
2 November – Jah Lelawati - Bangsawan actress, writer (b. 1937).^[17]

^ "Singapore refining companies". SG process industry. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
^ Jan Yap. "Singapore Symphony Orchestra". Singapore Infomedia. National Library Board Singapore.
^ "Vocational and Industrial Training Board (VITB)". NLB. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
^ "The $600m Raffles City". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 17 April 1979. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
^ "You can now visit Mitsukoshi Garden". The Business Times (retrieved from NLB). 21 April 1979. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
^ "Launch of first National Courtesy Campaign". NLB. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
^ "Monorail for Sentosa". New Nation (retrieved from NLB). 28 June 1979. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
^ "New post code to subdivide districts". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 26 April 1979. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
^ "New postal code system from July 1". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 3 May 1979. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
^ "Singapore's first waste-to-energy plant shuts down". Asiaone. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
^ "Speak Mandarin Campaign is launched". NLB. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
^ "Instant cash' through an automatic teller". The Straits Times. 10 February 1980. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
^ "Fast-food chains". NLB. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
^ "Joscelin Yeo Wei Ling". NLB. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
^ "Checha Davies". NLB. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
^ "Lim Cheng Hoe". NLB. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
^ "Jah Lelawati". NLB. Retrieved 29 October 2019.