Snakes And Ladders: Singapore's Standout Moments In Past Snake Years
Can you believe it's already Chinese New Year again? This year, we're entering the Year of the Snake. More specifically, this year is a Wood Snake year.
If you're unsure what that means, the Chinese zodiac not only has 12 zodiac animals but also 5 elements in its cycles - Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water, in that order.
With this year being the start of a new cycle of Snake years, we look back at significant and memorable events that took place during the previous 60-year cycle.
1965 (Wood Snake)
6 January: Orchard Theatre (built where Cathay Cineleisure Orchard is currently located) opens.
The $6 million entertainment centre consisted of not just a cinema, but also Singapore's first commercial bowling alley, and its first-ever escalators (which were considered a novelty to Singaporeans at the time).
IMAGE: UNSPLASH
9 August: Singapore's independence day. Enough said. Read all our fun and inspiring National Day-related stories here.
21 September: Singapore is admitted into the United Nations as its 117th member. Read our piece about it right here on Wonderwall.sg
1977 (Fire Snake)
27 February: Upper Peirce Reservoir is officially opened by then-PM Lee Kuan Yew, making it Singapore's 4th Reservoir. Mr Lee also outlines an upcoming 10-year plan to clean up the Singapore River.
13 June: The first double-decker bus in Singapore is launched on bus service 86 by Singapore Bus Service (now known as SBS Transit).
23 July: Big Splash waterpark opens in East Coast Park.
It soon becomes popular with visitors for its iconic 5-lane multicoloured slides, the tallest of which spanned a height of more than 6 storeys, reportedly the tallest in the world at the time.
10 December: Singapore Science Centre (now known as Science Centre Singapore) officially opens. If you're popping by for a visit and looking for some yummy makan there, here are our recommendations.
1989 (Earth Snake)
10 June: Construction begins on the New Psychiatric Hospital (now known as the Institute of Mental Health).
6 November: Singapore becomes one of the founding members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), an inter-governmental forum that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
31 December: Singapore Indoor Stadium officially opens in an inaugural ceremony by then-PM Lee Kuan Yew.
2001 (Metal Snake)
10 January: Expo MRT Station officially opens.
1 March: The National Courtesy Campaign is subsumed under the Singapore Kindness Movement. Its existing mascot, Singa the Courtesy Lion, receives a redesign and becomes the Singapore Kindness Movement's mascot instead.
14 March: The Housing and Development Board (HDB) launches the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP), which aims to upgrade existing lifts in older HDB blocks through new lift shafts and lifts, providing residents with more convenient access to their homes.
1 April: The Baby Bonus Scheme is launched to encourage Singaporeans to start families.
IMAGE: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
18 October: Dover MRT station opens, becoming Singapore's first infill station.
2013 (Water Snake)
14 January: Halimah Yacob is elected Speaker of Parliament, making her the first female Speaker in Singapore. Read our piece on some other fantastic firsts for Singapore women here.
IMAGE: NATIONAL LIBRARY BOARD
31 January: library@chinatown opens in Chinatown Point. Read our piece on malls in Singapore that also double up as book havens.
3 April: River Safari (now known as River Wonders) opens to the public as part of its soft launch.
27 May: "Ilo Ilo" becomes the first Singaporean film to win an award at the Cannes Film Festival, with director Anthony Chen taking home the Camera d'Or prize for best feature film debut.
30 November: The Purple Parade, Singapore's largest movement to support inclusion and celebrate abilities of persons with disabilities (PWDs) is held for the first time.
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