Date Event Classification Significance of event

5 September 1945 Return of British forces Social Event, Political Event End of Japanese Occupation
12 September 1945 Surrender of Japanese forces Political Event, Social Event End of World War 2
1947 Many strikes took place, remembered Social Events, Economical *Rise of Anti-Colonial Nationalism
as “Year of Strikes” Event Show of the people’s discontent with the
British
1948 First election was introduced to Political Event  Some power was given to the locals
Singapore  British allowed only those born in
Singapore to vote
 Voting was not made compulsory
 Singapore Progressive Party (SPP) was
chosen
12 December 1950 Maria Hertogh Riots Social Event, Political Cause *Evidence of Anti-Colonial sentiments

 Malays rioters attacked Europeans and

Eurasians
 18 killed and 155 injured
 Show the discontent with British handling
of sensitive issues such as religion
13 May 1954 Anti-National Service Riots Social Event, Political Cause *Rise of Anti-Colonial Nationalism

 Chinese Middle School students did not

want to participate in call-ups for National
Service
 18 injured and 48 students arrested
1950 *Effect of Anti-Colonial Political Event *Features of Limited Self-Government
Nationalism  Focused on giving the locals power to
rule trade and industry, healthcare,
Rendel Constitution was drawn up by education and housing

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 Sir George Rendel
1955 Second election held in Singapore
12 May 1955 *Communist inspired anti-colonial
Nationalism
Hock Lee Bus Riots
1956 *Attempts in achieving full
independence from Britain
First Merderka Talks
1956 *Communist inspired anti-colonial
Political Event
Political Effect, Social Event
  Marshall led a group of men to negotiate
 * Evidence: The British distrust of the
 British remain control of internal and
external defense, law and foreign relations
 A huge power transfer to the locals
 More political parties contested for seats
 More people attended the election due to
larger power transfer
 Labour Front (LF) won the election and
David Marshall became the First Chief
Minister
 Workers from Hock Lee Bus company
went on strike
 Students joined the workers in creating
disorder
 “Black Thursday” happened when the
police had a major clash with the rioters

 4 people killed and 30+ injured
for internal self-government in London
 Marshall said he would resign from his
post if talks failed
 British did not want to hand over
Singapore as they thought Marshall was
not good enough to keep the Communist
threat out
 The talks failed and Marshall resigned as
Chief Minister
 Lim Yew Hock became the Chief
Minister
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 Nationalism Communists

Students’ riots  The Chinese Middle School Student

Union (CMSSU) was closed down due to
Communist activities
 The riots ended when the Communist
leaders were arrested and detained
 The British were pleased with how Lim
Yew Hock dealt with the Communists
1957 *Attempts in achieving full   Lim Yew Hock led another group of men
independence from Britain to negotiate for internal self-government.
 The talks were successful and Lim Yew
Second Merderka Talks Hock announced that Singapore would
have internal self-government with
elections held in May 1959
May 1959 Singapore’s first fully democratic  Political Significance  13 parties took part in the elections
election  Voting was made compulsory for the first
time
 People’s Action Party (PAP) won 43 seats
out of 51 seats with Lee Kuan Yew as the
Prime Minister
December 1959 Choosing of the Yang di Pertuan Yusof bin Ishak, Singapore’s first local Yang
Negara di Pertuan Negara was elected.
27 May 1961 Considering for Merger with   Tunku Abdul Rahman, Prime Minister of
Malaysia Malaysia, made a speech suggesting the
possibility of merger with Brunei, Sabah
and Sarawak
 Inclusion of Sabah and Sarawak would
overcome the fear of possible Chinese
dominance

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15 July 1961 Anson by-election   Communist leaders within PAP withdrew
support for PAP due to merger issue
 PAP lost the Anson by-election
20 July 1961 Expelling of 13 PAP Assemblymen   Communist PAP Assemblymen challenged
Lee Kuan Yew’s leadership with the help
of 13 other PAP Assemblymen
 The 13 Assemblymen were expelled from
the PAP
August 1961 The formation of the Barisan Sosialis   The expelled Assemblymen and
Communist leaders
1st September 1962 Referendum ordinance was   People were given voting slips to see if
conducted they supported merger
 Majority of the people supported the
government’s choice to have merger
16 September 1963 Malaysia was formed   Malaysia was formed with Singapore,
Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak
 Singapore was not a British colony
anymore
September 1963 State election held in Singapore   PAP won 37 out of 51 seats
 UMNO was unhappy due to the loss of
seats in Geylang Serai, Kampong
Kembangan and the Southern Islands
1964 1964 Federal Election   PAP took part in 1964 Federal Election
 PAP won only 1 seat, while Alliance won
89 seats
 UMNO was unhappy that Singapore took
part in the election
 UMNO started the anti-PAP campaign in
Malaysia
12 July 1964 Anti-PAP speech Caused more racial tension in Malaysia

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21 July 1964 Race riots   Malays gathered at Padang to celebrate
Prophet Mohammed’s birthday
 23 killed and 454 injured
 Curfews until 2 August 1964
September 1964 Race riots   Malay trishaw rider was murdered in
Geylang Serai
 Rumored that Chinese killed the Malay
trishaw rider
 13 killed and 106 injured
October 1964 Reorganisation of UMNO   Alliance was going to prepare itself for
Singapore elections in 1967
 Going against the agreement between PAP
and Alliance not to politically challenge
each other for the next 2 years
March 1965 Konfrontasi   Indonesia launched Konfrontasi against
Singapore
 Bombs were set off in public places to
create disorder in Singapore
 MacDonald House was bombed on 10
March 1965, with 3 dead and 33 injured
May 1965 Formation of Malaysian Solidarity   Campaign for a ‘Malaysian Malaysia’,
Convention where everybody is equal regardless of
race or religion
 UMNO and some Malays were unhappy as
they did not have the special rights
anymore
6 August 1965 PAP informed of Tunku’s decision to   Tunku was afraid that more racial tensions
separate would surface if conflict went on
 Decided that the best way to solve the

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9 August 1965 PAP announced the separation of
Singapore from Malaysia
problem was for Singapore to leave
  Lee Kuan Yew announced to Singapore
that it was no longer a part of Malaysia
 Singapore had become an independent
nation
 Yusof bin Ishak, Singapore’s Yang-di
Pertuan Negara, became Singapore’s first
president

1956 First Merderka Political Event, Social Effect  Marshall led a group of men to negotiate
Talks for internal self-government in London
 Marshall said he would resign from his
post if the talks failed
 British did not want to hand over
Singapore as they thought Marshall was
not good
Enough to keep the Communist threat out
 The talks failed and Marshall resigned as
Chief Minister
 Lim Yew Hock became the Chief Minister
1956 Students’ Riots Social Event, Political Effect  The Chinese Middle School Student Union
(CMSSU) was closed down due to
Communist activities
 The riots ended with the arrest of
Communist leaders
 British were pleased with how Lim Yew
Hock dealt with the Communists
1957 Second Merderka Political Event, Social Event  Lim Yew Hock led another group of men
Talks to negotiate for internal self-government
 The talks were successful and Lim Yew

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 Hock announced that Singapore would
have internal self-government with
elections held in May 1959
May 1959 Singapore’s first Social Event, Political Event  13 parties took part in the elections
fully democratic  Voting was made compulsory for the first
election time
 People’s Action Party (PAP) won 43 seats
out of 51 seats with Lee Kuan Yew as
Prime Minister
December 1959 Appointing the Political Event Yusof bin Ishak, Singapore’s first local
Yang-di Pertuan Yang-di Pertuan Negara, was chosen
Negara
27 May 1961 Considering for Political Event, Social Effect, Economical  Tunku Abdul Rahman, Prime Minister of
Merger with Effect Malaya, made a speech suggesting the
Malaya possibility of merger with Brunei, Sabah
and Sarawak
 Inclusion of Sabah and Sarawak would
overcome the fear of possible Chinese
dominance in Malaysia
15 July 1961 Anson by-election Political Event  Communist leaders withdrew their support
for PAP due to the merger issue
 PAP lost the Anson by-election
20 July 1961 Expelling of 13 Political Event, Social Event  Communist PAP Assemblymen
PAP challenged Lee Kuan Yew’s leadership
Assemblymen with the help of 13 other PAP
Assemblymen
 The 13 Assemblymen were expelled from
the PAP
August 1961 Formation of the Political Event Expelled Assemblymen and Communist
Barisan Sosialis leaders who withdrew from the PAP formed

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 the Barisan Sosialis
1 September Referendum Political Effect, Social Event  People were given voting slips to see if
1962 ordinance was they supported merger
conducted  Majority of the people supported the
government’s choice for merger
16 September Malaysia was Political Event, Social Event, Economical  Malaysia was formed with Malaya,
1963 formed Event Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak
 Singapore was not a British colony
anymore
September 1963 State election held Political Event  PAP won 37 out of 51 seats
in Singapore  UMNO was unhappy due to the lost of
seats in Geylang Serai, Kampong
Kembangan and the Southern Islands
1964 1964 Federal Political Event, Social Event  PAP took part in the 1964 Federal
election Election
 PAP won only 1 seat, while UMNO won
89 seats
 Still, UMNO was unhappy that PAP took
part in the election
 UMNO started an anti-PAP campaign in
Malaysia
12 July 1964 Anti-PAP speech Political Event, Social Effect Caused more racial tension in Malaysia
by UMNO
21 July 1964 Race riots Social Event and Effect, Political Effect  Malays gathered at Padang to celebrate
Prophet Mohammed’s birthday
 23 killed and 454 injured
 Curfews until 2 August
September 1964 Race riots Social Event  Malay trishaw rider was murdered in
Geylang Serai
 Rumoured that Chinese killed the Malay

8
 trishaw rider
 13 killed and 106 injured
October 1964 Reorganisation of Political Event  Alliance was going to prepare itself for
UMNO Singapore elections in 1967
 Went against the agreement between PAP
and Alliance that they would not
politically compete for 2 years
March 1965 Konfrontasi Political Effect, Social Event, Economical  Indonesia launched Konfrontasi against
Event Malaysia
 Bombs were set off in public places to
create disorder
 MacDonald House was bombed on 10
March 1965, with 3 dead and 33 injured
May 1965 Formation of Political Event, Social Event  PAP gathered some Malay leaders to form
Malaysian the MSC
Solidarity  Campaigned for a ‘Malaysian Malaysia’,
Convention where everyone has equal chances
regardless of race and religion
 UMNO and some Malay leaders were
unhappy as they did not have their special
rights anymore
6 August 1965 Decision for Political Event, Social Effect  Tunku was afraid that more racial tensions
seperation would surface if conflict went on
 Decided that the best way to solve the
problem was for Singapore to leave
Malaysia
9 August 1965 Seperation of Political Event and Effect, Social Event and  Lee Kuan Yew announced to Singapore
Singapore from Effect, Economical Event that it was no longer a part of Malaysia
Malaysia  Singapore became an independent country
 Yusof bin Ishak became the first

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Singapore president

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