Singapore / Timeline

1927 Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) established

1930s Construction of Tiong Bahru, the first housing estate by SIT

1941 Attacked and occupied by the Japanese in WW2

1952 New town-planning concept by SIT, the first one being Queenstown in the south of the island

1958 SIT publishes first Masterplan for Singapore

1959 First general election for Legislative Assembly held, victory of the People’s Action Party led by Lee Kuan Yew

Completion of Queenstown’s first (out of seven) neighbourhood, Princess Margaret Drive

1960 Housing & Development Board (HDB) replaced SIT, fully adopted the new town planning concept on a large scale and revised the Queenstown development

1963 Formation of Malaysia (Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, and North Borneo)

1964 Beginning of work at Toa Payoh New Town

1965 Republic of Singapore established

1973 Butterfly Block on Mei Ling Road constructed