2008 in Singapore - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Events

January 9 - Singapore Changi Airport
Singapore Changi Airport
Singapore Changi Airport , Changi International Airport, or simply Changi Airport, is the main airport in Singapore. A major aviation hub in Southeast Asia, it is about north-east from the commercial centre in Changi, on a site....

Terminal 3 opens for operations.
February 15 to February 16 - Chingay Parade
Chingay Parade
The Chingay Parade is an annual street parade held in Penang, Malaysia and Singapore as part of Chinese New Year festivities. The term Chingay itself originated in Southeast Asia, particularly in Penang, which is a phonetic equivalent of the Chinese words "妆艺", which means "a decorated miniature...

of Dreams took place at Marina Bay.
February 19 to February 24 - Singapore Airshow
Singapore Airshow
The Singapore Airshow, formerly known as Changi International Airshow, is a biennial aerospace event held in Singapore starting from 2008. The event was launched as a partnership between Singaporean agencies Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and the Defence Science and Technology Agency after...

2008 was held at the Changi Exhibition Centre
Changi Exhibition Centre
The Changi International Exhibition and Convention Centre , formerly also commonly referred to simply as the Changi Exhibition Centre, is a convention center in Singapore located just beyond the northern edge perimeter fencing of Singapore Changi Airport, and had served as the venue for the Asian...

.
February 21- The President of IOC, Jacques Rogge
Jacques Rogge
Jacques Rogge, Count Rogge , is a Belgian sports bureaucrat. He is the eighth and current President of the International Olympic Committee .-Life and career:...

announces that Singapore will host the inaugural 2010 Summer Youth Olympics
2010 Summer Youth Olympics
The 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, officially known as the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games , were an international multi-sport event for youths that took place in the city-state of Singapore from 14 to 26 August 2010, in the XXIX Olympiad. They were the inaugural Summer Youth Olympics, a major...

.
March 1 - The Singapore Flyer
Singapore Flyer
The Singapore Flyer is a giant Ferris wheel located in Singapore, constructed in 2005–2008. Described by its operators as an observation wheel, it reaches 42 stories high, with a total height of , making it the tallest Ferris wheel in the world, taller than the Star of Nanchang and taller than...

officially opens.
May 23 - The International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...

(ICJ) awards Pedra Branca to Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

and Middle Rocks to Malaysia, ending a 29-year territorial dispute
Pedra Branca dispute
The Pedra Branca dispute was a territorial dispute between Singapore and Malaysia over several islets at the eastern entrance to the Singapore Strait, namely Pedra Branca , Middle Rocks and South Ledge...

between the two countries.
March 28 to April 6 - Singapore Fashion Festival 2008
May 23 to July 20 - Great Singapore Sale
Great Singapore Sale
The Great Singapore Sale is an annual shopping event in Singapore...
July 4 to July 27 - Singapore Food Festival
Singapore Food Festival
The Singapore Food Festival is an annual event that takes place every year from the end of June to the end of July. It is organised by the Singapore Tourism Board....

2008
July 25 to August 1 - Singapore Garden Festival
Singapore Garden Festival
The Singapore Garden Festival Singapore's garden and flower show, is a biennial event and the first and only international garden show in the tropics to showcase creations from the world’s top award-winning garden and floral designers under one roof...

2008
August 9 - Singapore celebrated her 43rd (XLIII) year of independence with National Day Parade, 2008
National Day Parade, 2008
The National Day Parade 2008 was a national ceremony held on 9 August 2008 at the Marina Bay Floating Stadium to commemorate Singapore's 43rd year of independence. For the second time, the event was held in the Marina Bay area.-Theme:...

.
August 17 - Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Lee Hsien Loong
Lee Hsien Loong is the third and current Prime Minister of Singapore. He is married to Ho Ching, who is the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Holdings. He is the eldest son of Singapore's first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew....

read out his annual National Day Rally
National Day Rally
The National Day Rally is an annual address that the Prime Minister of Singapore makes to the entire nation, on the second Sunday after August 9, the country's National Day...

speeches. The theme for National Day Rally 2008 was Celebrating our Singapore Story.
August 22 & 23 - Singapore Fireworks Celebrations in Marina Bay
Marina Bay
Marina Bay is a bay near Central Area in the southern part of Singapore, and lies to the east of the Downtown Core. Marina Bay is set to be a 24/7 destination with endless opportunities for people to “explore new living and lifestyle options, exchange new ideas and information for business, and be...

. The theme was The World Celebrates with Us.
September 11 to November 16 - Singapore Biennale 2008
Singapore Biennale
The Singapore Biennale is a contemporary art biennale in Singapore. The first Singapore Biennale operated as one of a lineup of Singapore 2006 events. Fumio Nanjo, Director of Tokyo's Mori Art Museum, has been reappointed Artistic Director of the Singapore Biennale 2008...
September 20 - The Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway
Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway
The Kallang–Paya Lebar Expressway is the third newest of Singapore's network of expressways. The southern section of the expressway opened first, on 26 October 2007 with the remaining section fully opened on 20 September 2008....

was fully opened.
October 1 - Bus and train fares to be adjusted by 0.7%.
October 19 - MediaCorp
MediaCorp
Media Corporation of Singapore, better known as MediaCorp, is a group of commercial media companies in Singapore, with business interests in television and radio broadcasting, interactive media, and, to a lesser extent, print publishing and film-making....

launches two free-to-air TV channels, okto and Vasantham
MediaCorp TV12 Vasantham
MediaCorp TV12 Vasantham or Vasantham is a Indian language channel dedicated to the Singaporean Indian in Singapore. It was launched on 20 October 2008. Programmes in Tamil and other Indian languages has increased from 29 to 69 hours each week...

, to replace Central
MediaCorp TV12 Central
MediaCorp TV12 Central or Central was an English and Tamil language Television channel in Singapore it was launched on 31 March 1996 replacing Premiere 12 it was launched since on 1 January 1994 as Television Corporation of Singapore since 1994.The channel was a combination of 3 distinct...

.
November 15 to January 2, 2009 - Christmas In The Tropics 2008
December 23 - Singapore Flyer stops turning due to technical problems.

Law

January 9 - In the Taw Cheng Kong case
Public Prosecutor v. Taw Cheng Kong
Public Prosecutor v. Taw Cheng Kong is a landmark case decided in 1998 by the Court of Appeal of Singapore which shaped the landscape of Singapore's constitutional law. The earlier High Court decision, Taw Cheng Kong v. Public Prosecutor, was the first instance in Singapore's history that a...

, for the first time in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

's history
History of Singapore
The history of Singapore dates to the 11th century. The island rose in importance during the 14th century under the rule of Srivijayan prince Parameswara and became an important port until it was destroyed by Acehnese raiders in 1613. The modern history of Singapore began in 1819 when Englishman...

the High Court
High Court of Singapore
The High Court of the Republic of Singapore is the lower division of the Supreme Court of Singapore, the upper being the Court of Appeal. It consists of the Chief Justice of Singapore and the Judges of the High Court. Judicial Commissioners are often appointed to assist with the Court's caseload...

strikes down a statutory provision as unconstitutional, holding that it is inconsistent with Article 12(1)
Article 12 of the Constitution of Singapore
Article 12 of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore guarantees to all persons equality before the law and equal protection of the law. The Article also identifies four forbidden classifications – religion, race, descent and place of birth – upon which Singapore citizens may not be...

of the Constitution
Constitution of Singapore
The Constitution of Singapore is the supreme law of Singapore and it is a codified constitution.The constitution cannot be amended without the support of more than two-thirds of the members of parliament on the second and third readings . The president may seek opinion on constitutional issues...

. (The decision is reversed by the Court of Appeal
Court of Appeal of Singapore
The Court of Appeal of the Republic of Singapore is the nation's highest court and its court of final appeal. It is the upper division of the Supreme Court of Singapore, the lower being the High Court. The Court of Appeal consists of the Chief Justice of Singapore, who is the President of the...

later that year.)
February 27 - Singapore's most wanted terror fugitive
Fugitive
A fugitive is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from private slavery, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals...

, Mas Selamat bin Kastari
Mas Selamat bin Kastari
Mas Selamat bin Kastari , an Indonesian-born Singaporean, was for more than a year Singapore's most-wanted fugitive after escaping from detention on 27 February 2008. The search for him has been described as the largest manhunt ever launched in Singapore...

, escaped from detention under the country's Internal Security Act
Internal Security Act (Singapore)
The Internal Security Act of Singapore is a law that allows the Singapore government to investigate security threats like international terrorism, foreign subversion, espionage and acts of violence or hatred using race or religion...

.

Sports

August 8 - August 24 - Team Singapore took part in the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

.
August 17 - Singapore won its first Olympic medal since independence in Women's Table Tennis
Table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...

team event, 48 years after its first medal
Singapore at the Olympics
Singapore has sent athletes to most Summer Olympic Games held since 1948, when it was established as a separate British Crown Colony from the Straits Settlements just over three months before the commencement of the 1948 Summer Olympics. It continued to send a team to the Games until 1964 when...

--also a silver—by Tan Howe Liang
Tan Howe Liang
Tan Howe Liang is a weightlifter from Singapore who earned himself a place in history as the first Singaporean to win an Olympic Games medal. He did this in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome where he won the silver medal in the lightweight category...

in the 1960 Summer Olympics
1960 Summer Olympics
The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held from August 25 to September 11, 1960 in Rome, Italy...

, on 17 August 2008.
September 6 - September 17 Team Singapore took part in the 2008 Summer Paralympics
2008 Summer Paralympics
The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, the thirteenth Paralympics, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to September 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao....

in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

.
September 7 - Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore took place.
September 9 - Singapore won its first-ever Paralympic medal, a bronze, through Equestrian by Laurentia Tan
Laurentia Tan
Laurentia Tan Yen Yi is a United Kingdom-based Singaporean Paralympic equestrienne. Tan developed cerebral palsy and profound deafness after birth, and moved to the United Kingdom with her parents at the age of three. She took up horse riding at age of five years as a form of physiotherapy...

.
September 11 - Laurentia Tan won the second Equestrian bronze medal.
September 13 - Swimmer Yip Pin Xiu
Yip Pin Xiu
Yip Pin Xiu , born 1992) is a Singaporean backstroke swimmer. She has muscular dystrophy and competes in the S3 category for the physically impaired. Since 2005, she has won medals in international competitions such as the World Wheelchair and Amputee Games, Japan Paralympic Swimming Championships...

won the country's first silver medal at the Paralympics.
September 15 - Yip Pin Xiu won Singapore's first gold medal at the Paralympics. Team Singapore won a total of 1 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze in the 2008 Summer Paralympics.
September 28 - Singapore hosts a leg of the 2008 Formula One World Championship
2008 Formula One season
The 2008 Formula One season was the 59th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It began on 16 March and ended on 2 November with eighteen Grand Prix races....

, called the Singtel Singapore Grand Prix.

Deaths

January 4 - Jimmy Nah
Jimmy Nah
Jimmy Nah , better known by his nickname "MC King" was a Singaporean comedian and actor who appeared frequently in Comedy Night.-Career:...
January 7 - Robert Chandran
Robert Chandran
Robert Viswanathan Chandran was an Indian-born Singaporean business executive, and the founder and CEO of the Chemoil company....
February 8 - Ah Meng
Ah Meng
Ah Meng was a female Sumatran Orangutan and a tourism icon of Singapore. She was smuggled from Indonesia and kept illegally as a domestic pet before being recovered by a veterinarian in 1971...
February 8 - Chua Ek Kay
Chua Ek Kay
Chua Ek Kay was a Singaporean artist hailed as the "bridge between Asian and Western art" with a unique painting style using Chinese ink on paper that demonstrated an ingenious blend of traditional Chinese painting forms with Western art theories and techniques...
July 14 - Ong Chit Chung
September 30 - Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam
Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam
Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam was a politician and lawyer from Singapore. He was the leader of the Workers' Party from 1971 to 2001...
November 28 - Lo Hwei Yen (A Singaporean held hostage killed during the November 2008 Mumbai attacks)

Events

Law

Sports

Deaths

See also