Singapore trivia

In 1300...

Sang Nila Utama landed in Temasek after a heavy storm. The name Singapura came from when he saw a lion and got inspired by it. Singapura means "City of the Sea Lion" in Sanskrit.

​On 6 February 1819...

Stamford Raffles, Temenggong Abdu’r Rahman and Sultan Hussein Shah, of Johor signed a treaty that gave the British East India Company (EIC) the right to set up a trading post in Singapore.

Singapore was a British settlement, and Raffles left William Farquhar to manage Singapore

​August 9, 1965

After many issues with the Singapore-Melaya merger, it was decided that Singapore would split and become an independent country.

At the time, it was a scary moment as Singapore did not have many resources and land. But with the leadership of LKY, Singapore is able to become a prosperous country.

30 April 1970

Queenstown Public Library officialy opened by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. The library is still open to the public.

​29 December 1981

The old Paya Lebar Airport was too small to handle all the new airplanes coming to Singapore and so Changi Airport was built.

Changi Airport has opened more terminals and Jewel and it is really big, with 82 million passangers visiting every year. Paya Lebar Airport turned into an airbase.

​1936-1940

Tiong Bahru was the first housing estate to be built by company Singapore Inprovement's Trust.

HDB then took over SIT role in 1960 and that is why our flats are called HDBs. Queenstown is the first town built by HDB

He is the first representative from Singapore to join the Olympics in 1948 Summer Olympic Games in London, UK.

Tan Howe Liang is the first Singaporean to be an Olympic medalist. He got 2nd place in weightlifting in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, and was the only Singaporean medalist for 48 years until Joseph Schooling in Rio 2016

​4th July 2015

Botanic Gardens became a UNESCO World Heritage Site

UNESCO World Heritage Site is for places in different countries that have a cultural significance and have very important history

Officially opened in 1934, the Old Hill Street Police Station stands firmly rooted at the junction of River Valley Road and Hill Street.

Back in the day, it used to house the Hill Street Police Station and Barracks but now serves as the main office of the Ministry of Communications and InformaHon and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth.

The Cathay Building has been around since 1939 and originally served as the headquarters for the British Malaya Broadcasting Corporation.

It was also a movie theatre, and it was well known because it was the first air-conditioned one

Kaya is made of coconut cream, eggs, white sugar and pandan leaves

There are differing accounts on the origins of kaya. Some state that it is a Eurasian jam unique to Singapore and Malaysia, and was originally from a Portuguese egg jam. In this adaptation, coconut milk and pandan leaves were used instad of milk and vanilla pods.

Other state that it is based on the Portuguese dessert, sericaia, which is made from eggs, sugar, milk and cinnamon and shares a similar taste.

The name is inspired by Michael Jackson's song "Black or White" as grass jelly is black in colour while soya bean is white.