2012 in Singapore

The following lists events that happened during 2012 in the Republic of Singapore.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

← 2011 2010 2009 2012 in Singapore → 2013 2014 2015
Decades:	1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
See also:	Other events of 2012 Timeline of Singaporean history

Incumbents

• President: Tony Tan Keng Yam
• Prime Minister: Lee Hsien Loong

Events

January

• 10 January –
  • Li Hong Yang dies after collapsing during training.
  • A report on ministerial salaries was released, which provides for cuts. The report was debated in Parliament from 16 to 18 January.[1]
• 14 January – Opening of Circle Line Extension (CCLe), extending from Promenade MRT station to Bayfront and Marina Bay MRT station.[2]
• 15 January – The Ministry of Health launched a new health scheme known as the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS), which has Blue and Orange Cards. This will help the low and middle income get affordable healthcare.[3]
• 28 January – The Woodsville Tunnel opens to traffic, relieving congestion along Woodsville Interchange.[4][5]

February

• 16 February – Opening of the last two hotels in Resorts World Sentosa, Equarius Hotel and Beach Villas.[6]

March

• 8 March – The Kindness Gallery is opened.[7]
• 9 March – Lemon Laws are passed in Parliament to protect consumers from defects. The laws come into effect on 1 September.[8]
• 15 March – A 12-hour train disruption occurs on the North East MRT Line from HarbourFront to Dhoby Ghaut, after an overhead catenary wire snapped.[9]
• 17 March – The revamped Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park is opened, transforming the park from a canal to a naturalised floodplain.[10][11]
• 22 March – MAX Atria @ Singapore Expo opens as part of an expansion to Singapore Expo. It caters for changing needs of meetings, incentives, conferencing, exhibitions (MICE) participants and is an environmentally-friendly building. In addition, it is the first venue to provide free WiFi for participants.[12]

April

• 1 April – The Jurong Bird Park Panorail is closed.
• 2 April – JCube is opened in Jurong East.[13]
• 6 April – Singapore Airlines flies the Boeing 747 for the last time.[14]
• 11 April – The Singapore Institute of Technology unveils the designs for its Polytechnic campuses, unveiling a new logo too. The campuses, which will incorporate environmentally friendly features, will be completed by 2014.[15][16]
• 17 April – Dominique Lee dies after an allergic reaction was triggered by excessive grenades.
• 30 April – Rediffusion Singapore, a digital radio station, ceases broadcast.

May

• 7 May – Singapore University of Technology and Design is inaugurated by then President Tony Tan.[17]
• 10 May – Tan Mou Sheng dies after an accident involving a Jeep.
• 26 May – A Workers' Party candidate who previously represented East Coast GRC in the 2011 Singaporean general election, Png Eng Huat, was elected as a Member-of-parliament (MP) for the opposition-held Hougang SMC as a result of the by-election victory, succeeding Yaw Shin Leong, who had earlier vacated his seat on 15 February due to his expulsion from the party as a result of his party misconduct and undisclosed extra-marital affair. This was also the first by-election in nearly two decades, since the 1992 Marine Parade by-election.
• 27 May – China Architecture Design and Research Group announced the acquisition of CPG Corporation from Australian heavy engineering firm Downer Group.[18]

June

• 4 June – Scoot, a low-cost airline, starts operations.
• 22 June – The Brompton bikes purchase was reported, sparking a controversy. As a result, the Ministry of National Development referred the case to the police. The person in charge of the purchase has since been fined S$5,000.[19][20]
• 26 June – City Harvest Church Criminal Breach of Trust Case: President and senior pastor of City Harvest Church Kong Hee, along with four other leaders of City Harvest Church, were arrested and charged with misuse of funds which was heavily used under investments and Ho Yeow Sun (formerly known as Sun Ho).[21][22] A sixth leader was charged on 25 July 2012. All six accused were granted bail of S$500,000 and had their passports withdrawn.[23] At S$50 million worth of charity funds, this was the known largest misuse of charity funds in Singapore.
• 29 June – The Gardens by the Bay opens.

July

• 1 July – Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, a private hospital in Novena, opened its doors.[24]
• 5 July – Singapore Institute of Technology's campus at Temasek Polytechnic, known as SIT@TP, starts construction, which will finish by 2014. The building will house the Glasgow School of Art and The Culinary Institute of America.[25]
• 6 July – Yale-NUS College starts construction on its new campus, which will official open in 2015.[26][27]
• 19 July – NTUC Club announced plans to upgrade Downtown East with a new resort, an expanded Wild Wild Wet and better facilities, which will be done in 5 years.[28]
• 24 July – Singapore Institute of Technology's campus at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, known as SIT@NP, starts construction, which will finish by 2014. The building will house Newcastle University, University of Glasgow and Wheelock College.[29]
• 27 July – 12 August – Team Singapore took part in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The party's final result was two bronze medals, placing 76th out of 86 NOCs.

August

• 1 August – The Media Literacy Council is formed to promote cyber wellness.[30]
• 7 August – Singapore Institute of Technology's campus at Singapore Polytechnic, known as SIT@SP, starts construction, which will finish by 2014. The building will house the Technical University of Munich, University of Glasgow and DigiPen Institute of Technology.[31]
• 12 August – Muhammad Fahrurrazi Bin Salim dies after his body was found 200 metres from the last seen position. That took place during a training in Brunei.
• 28 August – After 15 years, Carrefour announced that it will exit the Singapore market by year-end after closing its stores in Plaza Singapura and Suntec City.[32]
• 29 August – 9 September – Team Singapore took part in the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London.
  • 3 September – Equestrian rider Laurentia Tan wins a Paralympic bronze medal.[33] She wins a silver medal on 5 September.[34]

September

• 3 September – Kiss 92FM is launched with an emphasis on women and family matters, the first radio station in Singapore to do so.[35]
• 6 September – Giant pandas Kai Kai and Jia Jia arrived in Singapore. They will be part of the River Safari when it opens.[36]
• 8 September – Our Singapore Conversation is launched.
• 12 September – The Ministry of Education announced that school rankings by academic results will no longer be carried out, as well as an overhaul of school awards.[37]
• 15 September – Gillman Barracks reopens as an art cluster.[38][39]
• 17 September –
  • Singapore Power announced the S$2 billion north–south and east–west cable tunnels project to house electrical cables 60m underground. When completed by 2018, the project will help boost Singapore's power system and result in less inconvenience from road works.[40][41]
  • The Star Vista is opened.[42]
• 18 September – One Raffles Place Tower Two is officially opened.[43]
• 25 September – Budget Terminal, one of the terminals located at the Singapore Changi Airport, ceases operation after six years of service and began demolition on 1 February 2013 to make way for Terminal 4.[44]
• 27 September – Tan Tai Sen dies in a freak accident caused by a falling tree.
• 28 September – The second satellite blood collection centre opens in Dhoby Ghaut.[45]

October

• 15 October – The Personal Data Protection Act is passed in Parliament to safeguard data privacy and create a do-not-call registry.
• 16 October – Plans are unveiled for seven new waterfront districts as part of Punggol's second phase, along with more amenities.[46][47]
• 22 October – The Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore is officially opened.[48]
• 24 October – Sky Greens's vertical farm is officially opened, making Sky Greens the first commercial vertical farm in Singapore, boosting vegetable production.[49]

November

• 1 November –
  • The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) and Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA) are restructured into three ministries, which are the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI). It is hoped that the restructuring will be able to handle family and community issues more effectively.[50] In addition, the National Archives of Singapore (NAS) is now under the National Library Board (NLB).[51]
  • The Star Performing Arts Centre was opened.
• 14 November – The death penalty is made discretionary in some cases of murder and drug trafficking, following amendments passed to the Penal Code and Misuse of Drugs Act.[52][53]
• 15 November – Sheba the polar bear (of Singapore Zoo) dies at the age of 35.[54]
• 16 November – The new Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) is officially opened, giving a boost for R&D activities.[55]
• 21 November – The Ministry of Education announced that top scorers will no longer be disclosed, starting from the 2012 PSLE results.[56]
• 26 November – 171 SMRT bus drivers conducted a strike which lasted for two days.[57]
• 29 November – The Giant Panda Forest in River Safari is opened.[58]

December

• 1 December – Pacnet ceased operations of its residential internet network.[59]
• 7 December – Resorts World Sentosa officially opens with a new 8m sculpture unveiled.[60]
• 10 December – An accident occurred on the RSN Endurance.[61]
• 12 December – Speaker of Parliament and MP of Punggol East SMC, Michael Palmer resigned due to an extra-marital affair.[62]
• 22 December – The Singapore national football team wins the 2012 AFF Championship finals, winning Thailand 3–2.

Deaths

• 3 February – Toh Chin Chye, pioneer Deputy Prime Minister (b. 1921).[63]
• 4 February – Lee Hee Seng, former banker, public servant (b. 1927).[64]
• 5 March – Khoo Oon Teik, doctor, founder of National Kidney Foundation (b. 1921).[65]
• 10 March – Tan Boon Teik, second Attorney-General (b. 1929).[66]
• 27 March – Nalla Tan, doctor, academic, author (b. 1923).[67]
• 2 May – Emma Yong, actress, member of Dim Sum Dollies (b. 1975).[68]
• 3 June – Lady Yuen-Peng McNeice, nature conservationist (b. 1917).[69]
• 4 June – Lim Hock Siew, former politician and ISA detainee of Operation Coldstore (b. 1931).[70]
• 29 June – Yong Nyuk Lin, former politician (b. 1918).[71]
• 24 November – Tan Chong Tee, member of Force 136 (b. 1916).[72]

Notes

1. "White Paper: Salaries for a Capable and Committed Government" (PDF). PSD. 10 January 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
2. "Factsheet on Circle Line Extension". LTA. 28 November 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
3. "More Singaporeans to benefit from subsidized GP care from today" (PDF). MOH. 15 January 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
4. "New Woodsville Tunnel to Open on 28 January 2012". LTA. 19 January 2012. Archived from the original on 22 January 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
5. Chen, Clarence (19 January 2012). "New Woodsville Tunnel to open on January 28". Yahoo! Singapore. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
6. "RWS to open last 2 of 6 hotels on Thursday". Channel NewsAsia. 13 February 2012. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
7. "Singapore Kindness Movement". NLB. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
8. "Singapore 'Lemon Law' Passed in Parliament" (PDF). NAS. 9 March 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
9. "Joint News Release by the Land Transport Authority & SBST – North East Line Train Service Resumes Full Operation Following Morning Disruption". LTA. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
10. "PM Lee opens $76 million Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park". Asiaone. 17 March 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
11. "Opening of Bishan Park – ABC Waters". PMO. 17 March 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
12. "MAX Atria @ Singapore Expo opens – Singapore's first BCA Green Mark Platinum Award venue and Asia's first venue with complimentary, patented Wi-Fi" (PDF). Singex. 22 March 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 April 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
13. "JCUBE mall in Jurong to open in April 2". Asiaone. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
14. "SIA Bids Farewell To B747". Singapore Airlines. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
15. "Singapore Institute of Technology Distributed Campus Designs Unveiling Ceremony at the Arts House". MOE. 11 April 2012. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
16. "SIT unveils distributed campus designs". SIT. 11 April 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
17. "Singapore University of Technology and Design is Inaugurated". NLB. 7 May 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
18. Hornby, Lucy; Laurence, Jeremy (27 May 2012). "China enters new era of services expansion with Singapore CPG buy". Reuters. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
19. "DPM Teo: Investigations into Brompton bicycle saga completed". Yahoo. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
20. Lee, Amanda (11 June 2014). "Brompton bikes case: S$5,000 fine for former NParks official". Todayonline. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
21. "City Harvest case: Allegedly total of $50m misused". 6 July 2012. Archived from the original on 6 July 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
22. "Singapore City Harvest Church pastor charged over funds". BBC. 27 June 2012. Archived from the original on 7 July 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
23. "TODAYonline – Singapore – 6th City Harvest member charged; cases adjourned for 5 weeks". 27 July 2012. Archived from the original on 27 July 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
24. "Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital opens for business" (PDF). Parkway Pantai. 2 July 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
25. "SIT Kicks Off Series of Groundbreaking Ceremonies with Temasek Polytechnic". SIT. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
26. "Yale-NUS College groundbreaking ceremony". PMO. 6 July 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
27. "Yale-NUS College holds groundbreaking ceremony". Asiaone. 6 July 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
28. Lip, Kwok Wai; Chia, Alice (19 July 2012). "Downtown East gets S$200m facelift". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
29. "SIT@NP Groundbreaking Ceremony". SIT. 24 July 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
30. "New Council to oversee cyber wellness, media literacy initiatives". Media Development Authority (now IMDA). 30 July 2012. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
31. "SIT@SP Groundbreaking Ceremony". SIT. 7 August 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
32. "Carrefour to shut Singapore stores by year-end". Reuters. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
33. Alywin Chew (4 September 2012), "Laurentia Tan bags bronze medal: 33-year-old, who won bronze in Beijing Games, comes in third again in equestrian event", Today, p. 2, archived from the original on 4 September 2012
34. "Paralympics: Laurentia Tan scores a silver: Success in Individual Freestyle Test makes Tan Singapore's most bemedalled Paralympian ever", Todayonline.com, 5 September 2012, archived from the original on 6 September 2012
35. "Kiss 92 goes live on Monday". SPH. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
36. "Giant pandas arrive safely in Singapore". Wildlife Reserves Singapore (Wordpress). 6 September 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
37. "MOE Removes Secondary School Banding and Revamps School Awards". MOE. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
38. "Gillman Barracks Art Galleries to open September 15" (PDF). Gillman Barracks. 24 August 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
39. "Gillman Barracks". NLB. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
40. "Singapore Power builds S$2 billion next-generation power infrastructure" (PDF). Singapore Power (now SP Group). 17 September 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
41. "Work to build tunnels for cables to begin by year end" (PDF). The Straits Times (retrieved from SP Group). 18 September 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
42. "New Creation Church closer to $500m target". Asiaone. 1 October 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
43. "Opening of One Raffles Place Tower Two". MOF. 18 September 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
44. "Changi Airport to open Terminal 4 on Oct 31; 9 airlines to operate from new terminal". The Straits Times. 6 September 2017. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
45. "HSA Opens 2nd Satellite Blood Donation Centre at Dhoby Ghaut". HSA. 28 September 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
46. "Punggol to get 7 signature waterfront housing districts". AsiaOne. 16 October 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
47. Chin, Daryl (17 October 2012). "Punggol to have 7 new waterfront districts". The Straits Times. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
48. "Official Opening of the Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore" (PDF). SATS Creuers. 22 October 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
49. "Sky Greens opens". NLB. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
50. "Restructuring of MCYS and MICA and establishment of new Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY)". NLB. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
51. "The National Archives of Singapore to be transferred to the NLB". MCI. 15 October 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
52. Hussain, Amir (15 November 2012). "Changes will enhance effectiveness of death penalty regime: DPM Teo (page 6)". Today (retrieved from NLB). Retrieved 5 May 2020.
53. Ng, Jing Yng (15 November 2012). "Courts have 'discretion in unintentional killings'". Today (retrieved from NLB). Retrieved 5 May 2020.
54. "Singapore Zoo's polar bear Sheba dies at age 35". Channel NewsAsia. 15 November 2012. Archived from the original on 17 November 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
55. "Opening of Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE)". PMO. 16 November 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
56. "Parents welcome scrapping of top students list". Yahoo. 21 November 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
57. "SMRT bus drivers' strike". NLB. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
58. "Kai Kai and Jia Jia to make public debut on Nov 29". The Straits Times. 29 October 2012. Archived from the original on 29 October 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
59. "Pacnet exits S'pore residential market". Asiaone. 20 October 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
60. "Resorts World Sentosa opens fully today". Asiaone. 7 December 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
61. "Navy regular critically injured after incident onboard ship". Asiaone. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
62. "Michael Palmer resigns: MPs shocked by announcement". Retrieved 27 September 2019.
63. "Remembering Dr Toh Chin Chye". Archived from the original on 9 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
64. "Lee Hee Seng". NLB. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
65. "Khoo Oon Teik". NLB. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
66. "Tan Boon Teik". NLB. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
67. "Nalla Tan". NLB. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
68. "Emma Yong". NLB. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
69. "Lady Yuen-Peng McNeice". NLB. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
70. "Lim Hock Siew". NLB. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
71. "Yong Nyuk Lin". NLB. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
72. "Tan Chong Tee". NLB. Retrieved 7 August 2019.