# 1971 in Singapore

The following lists events that happened during 1971 in Singapore.

## Incumbents

* President: Yeoh Ghim Seng (Acting) (23 November 1970 to 2 January), Benjamin Henry Sheares (starting 2 January)
* Prime Minister: Lee Kuan Yew

## Events
### January

* 1 January – The Monetary Authority of Singapore was established to regulate the financial sector and as Singapore's central bank.
* 2 January – Dr Benjamin Henry Sheares becomes the second President of Singapore.
* 3 January – Jurong Bird Park opens to the public.
* 14–22 January - Singapore hosts the 18th Conference of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
* 29 January – The Preservation of Monuments Board was established to identify and safeguard buildings of great historical value and recommend as national monuments.

### February

* 1 February – The National Sports Promotion Board is formed to promote and develop sports in Singapore.

### March

* 15 March – The Staff Training Institute (now the Civil Service College) is established to train civil servants.

### April

* 15–16 April – Singapore, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Australia, and New Zealand sign the Five Power Defence Arrangements. The agreement comes into effect on 1 November the same year.
* 23 April –
** The Shangri-La Hotel Singapore is opened.
** The first Concept Plan is unveiled, which proposes a 'Ring Plan'.

### May

* 11 May – Local newspapers Eastern Sun and the Singapore Herald were accused by then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew of having been involved in "black operations". They later shut down on 18 May and 28 May respectively.

### July

* 14 July – The Jurong Drive-in Cinema is opened as Singapore's first and only open-air drive-in cinema. The cinema operated for 15 years until its closure on 30 September 1985.
* 30 July – Singapore's first sex reassignment surgery is performed on a 24-year-old who becomes a woman after the surgery, led by Dr S. S. Ratnam. The surgery is declared a success.

### October

* 23 October – The Sentosa Satellite Earth Station is officially launched, making it Singapore's first Satellite Earth Station.
* 31 October – The last British military forces withdraws from Singapore.

### November

* 2 November – The Central Narcotics Bureau is set up to tackle the problem of drugs in Singapore.
* 7 November – The first Tree Planting Day is launched by Dr Goh Keng Swee in Mount Faber.

### December

* 1 December – The Singapore Traction Company ceases operations.
* 2 December – The Clean Air Act is passed to deal with pollution caused by early industrialisation.
* 29 December – The Gold Bars triple murders saw a gold merchant and his two employees robbed and killed by a group of 10 men. Seven of the 10 men were sentenced to death for the crime; the remaining three were indefinitely detained for lengthy periods before their release.

### Date unknown

* Tower 1 of Mandarin Orchard Singapore is opened.

## Births

* 27 January – Fann Wong, actress.
* 30 January – Bryan Wong, actor.
* 23 July – Christopher Lee, Malaysia-born Singaporean actor.
* Daren Shiau, writer, lawyer, and environmental activist.
* Selena Tan, producer, director, writer, and actress.

## Deaths

* 7 February – Chen Yoh Shoo, former chairman of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (b. 1900).
* 26 June – Goh Chew Chua, former assemblyman for Tampines Constituency (b. 1897).
* 21 September – Tan Chor Lam, Chinese businessman and first chairman of the Nanyang Branch of the Tongmenghui (b. 1884).