1 January to 3 February – McDonald's starts a 40-day Hello Kitty promotion, causing a buying frenzy unprecedented in McDonald's history and several fights.[1][2]
3 January – The Straits Times Index hits a record high of 2582.94 points.[4] The now-former record has been surpassed in 2006, with a current record high of 3875.77 hit in 2007.
7 January – Four members of the Antarctica 2000 team successfully reached the 4,897-metre-high Mount Vinson Massif, the highest point ever in Antarctica.[5]
18 January – The Paragon, a mall-cum-medical complex is officially opened.[7]
21 January – The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology announced full telecom competition from 1 April 2000 instead of 1 April 2002 and an immediate lifting on foreign ownership of telecom companies. This will give consumers more choices and compete with an evolving telecoms industry.[8]
27 January – Manja is launched as a lifestyle magazine.[9]
Premiere 12 was officially, and formally grand rebranding ceremony took place as Central was officially divided into three schedule channel programme block such as:[12]
Tamil News (Tamil Seithi) was officially introducing, and launching new added the word "Vasantham" to become "Vasantham Tamil News (Vasantham Tamil Seithi)" was officially launched new schedule, new clock and new time became daily from 8:30pm to 9:00pm Singapore Time.
18 February – ST Engineering acquires the Chartered Industries of Singapore through ST Auto, now called ST Kinetics.[15] The acquisition is first announced on 22 October 1999.[16]
28 February – Shaw Theatres closes its Hougang Plaza branch due to declining patronage and proliferation of video piracy. Its premises has since been taken up by one-stop furnishing retailer Novena Furnishing Centre.[17]
11 March – The Ministry of Trade and Industry announced further liberalisation of the electricity and gas markets by 2001. Temasek Holdings will divest from all three power companies. Foreign ownership limits on these plants will be lifted, with a limit on cross holding generation companies to encourage competition. In addition, Singapore Power will divest from generation companies from 2001, first announced in 1999. It will also divest PowerSupply to Temasek Holdings too. SembCorp Gas will be required to divest from transporting gas if it continues importing and retailing gas to large users. With these measures, full retail competition for large industrial and commercial consumers will commence from 1 April 2001. PowerGrid will be tightly regulated, and an Independent System Operator (ISO) under Public Utilities Board will be established.[20]
The new Tan Tock Seng Hospital building officially opens. At the same time, the Health Promotion Board, which will promote healthy lifestyles will be established by April 2001, bringing together the National Health Education Department, Department of Nutrition, School Health Service and School Dental Service.[24]
15 April – Life Sciences is identified as a fourth pillar to Singapore's manufacturing economy, in addition to electronics, chemical and engineering. As a result, several plans were announced, including increasing the number of professionals in Life Sciences, more research and educational institutions in Life Sciences and active research programmes.[28]
22 May – The Political Donations Act is passed to disallow donations by non-permissible donors and require reporting of large donations in a bid to protect Singapore from foreign interference.[33]
8 June – Singapore Press Holdings launches SPH MediaWorks in preparation for the launch of its TV channels.[38]
9 June – MediaCorp is awarded a licence by the Ministry of Information and the Arts to operate a newspaper.[39]
17 June – The Republic of Singapore Yacht Club's new clubhouse and marina is officially opened.[40]
21 June – The Monetary Authority of Singapore announced several measures to separate financial and non-financial activities of banks and the divestment of non-financial activities, known as the anti-commingling rules. Other measures include having separate management and ownership, a ban on cross shareholding non-financial firms and sharing of bank names.[41][42]
24 June – Plans were announced to boost Life Sciences in Singapore, including a review of curriculum, the launch of Singapore Genomics Programme (present-day Genome Institute of Singapore) and boosting the R&D fund.[43]
July
1 July –
CityLink Mall is opened as Singapore's first subterranean mall, which acts as an underpass too.[44]
7 July – The National Volunteer Centre (since renamed as National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre) is officially opened to encourage volunteerism in Singapore.[46]
8 July – Construction starts on the first phase of the Deep Tunnel Sewerage System, which will serve Central and eastern Singapore. It will be completed by 2008.[47]
12 July – DBS Land and Pidemco Land will merge to form the largest listed property company in South East Asia with about $18 billion worth in assets.[48][49] The merger, which is approved by shareholders on 18 October,[50] results in the formation of CapitaLand.[51]
22 July – The RSS Conqueror is commissioned, making it Singapore's first submarine.[52]
12 August – Project Eyeball, an integrated print and digital newspaper is launched.[59]
13 August – The National Football Academy is launched to raise football standards. In addition, plans to attract foreign soccer players are announced.[60][61]
25 August – JTC's subsidiaries Arcasia Land and JTC International's Business Parks and Facilities announced that they will merge, resulting in the formation of Ascendas on 8 January 2001.[62][63]
Jurong Town Corporation is appointed to develop the Buona Vista Science Hub (now one-north), with details announced. JTC will immediately set up an incubator park. Meanwhile, rules are and will be reviewed to encourage entrepreneurship.[66]
The National Skills Recognition System is launched as an accessible national skills framework to enhance the competitiveness of workers. It is managed by the Productivity and Standards Board with the National Skills Council implementing the framework.[71]
12 September – Hand, foot, and mouth disease outbreak: The Ministry of the Environment shuts Cutie Kidz Playhouse after a suspected fatal case of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) two days earlier with four suspect cases later found from the same centre.[72]
13 September – HFMD outbreak: HFMD will be legally notifiable from 1 October to better control the disease. In addition, there are 9 cases from Cutie Kidz Playhouse with 24 suspected cases from Tumbelina Educare Centre and Sweetlands Childcare and Development Centre, bringing the total to 33. The former is shut for at least 10 days while investigations into the death continue.[73]
14 September – HFMD outbreak: 5 more centres report 20 cases, bringing the total to 53.[74]
15 September –
HFMD outbreak: 8 more centres report 54 cases, bringing the total to 107.[75]
The new Heritage Conservation Centre is opened to conserve Singapore's heritage.[76]
29 September – Singapore Airlines announced an order for 25 Airbus A3XX very large aircraft (now known as A380), with the first delivery scheduled for 2006.[79]
7 October – Changi Airport's Terminal 3 starts construction. It will be a spacious and lush terminal with IT facilities, with a handling capacity of 20 million passengers per year. The terminal will be finished by 2006, but ultimately opened on 9 January 2008.[82]
9 October – The Compulsory Education Act is passed, making primary education compulsory for all children born from 1996.[83][84][85]
10 October – Singapore is elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) at the 55th session of the UN General Assembly.
12 October –
Singapore's first Internet Home is launched in Bishan, allowing families to enjoy better services on the Internet and convenience.[86]
14 October – Jurong Island, formed by joining seven small islands into one is officially opened. The island is mainly used by petrochemical and energy industries.[88][89]
3 November – Frenchman Alain Robert attempts a climb on OUB Centre, which is eventually aborted on the 23rd floor. As a result, he is arrested, and let off with a warning.[92]
10 November – Today, a freesheet, is launched to compete with Streats, another freesheet launched two months earlier. The newspaper is owned by MediaCorp, together with SingTel and SMRT,[93] with DelGro pulling out of the launch two days earlier.[94]
15 November – Jurong Town Corporation is renamed to JTC Corporation during the opening of its new headquarters, the JTC Summit. In addition, MTI statutory boards will be restructured.[96]
19 November – Singapore's first lung transplant operation is performed on 54-year-old Thanvanthri N. Veerappan.[97]
The National Healthcare Group is officially inaugurated. More GPs will join NHG Polyclinics from January 2001 with a pilot night clinic project in Jurong.[99]
23 November – The Singapore Exchange lists its shares on the stock exchange, becoming the third in Asia to do so.[100]
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