1969 marked the 150th anniversary of Sir Stamford Raffles’ founding of modern Singapore. To commemorate this milestone, the National Theatre Dance Company presented the ballet ‘Concerto for a Nation’. Told in three movements, the dance traces the island’s early history before the arrival of Raffles, to the young nation’s determined march into the future...

Before the introduction of the metric system, there was no standard system for weights and measures in Singapore. Instead, a variety of Eastern and Western units was used, such as the kati and pound for weights. With the transition to the metric system, these would eventually be replaced by the metre for the measurement of length and distance, the kilogramme for weight, and the litre for fluids...

The opening ceremony of the National Stadium was broadcast live on 21 July 1973. It was hoped that the 50,000-seat national sports complex would not only be a venue for major sporting events, but that through watching these events, Singaporeans would be encouraged to participate in sports and keep fit too. Over the next three decades, the stadium would become an iconic venue for Malaysia Cup matches and 18 National Day Parades...

Although television was introduced in Singapore in 1963, it would be more than a decade before the first programmes were broadcast in colour. The first ‘test’ colour transmission occurred during the July 1974 World Cup final between West Germany and the Netherlands, causing a wild rush to snap up colour television sets – 1,000 sets alone were sold in the three days before the match...

Built in 1905, the Victoria Memorial Hall underwent a year-long revamp in 1979 and reopened as the Victoria Concert Hall. It was inaugurated on 1 October 1980 by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Mr Lee’s inauguration speech was followed by a performance from the concert hall’s new resident orchestra, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. For more archival materials from the National Archives of Singapore, please visit www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline.

Singapore’s major civilian airport, the world-renowned Changi Airport, opened in 1981. This programme traces the origins of Changi Airport, covering why it was needed, why the location was chosen, and follows the construction and testing process. For more archival materials from the National Archives of Singapore, please visit www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline.

Singapore celebrated 25 years of nationhood in 1990, with the yearlong Silver Jubilee celebrations culminating in a grand finale at the National Stadium. Featuring 15,000 performers, the Singapore Jubilee Spectacular was billed as one of the biggest theatrical shows and mass displays in local history. For more archival materials from the National Archives of Singapore, please visit www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline.

1994 saw the long-awaited return of the Malaysia Cup to Singapore after 14 years. The Malaysia Cup Final took place at the Shah Alam Stadium in Pahang, where 50,000 Singaporeans cheered on as the Lions beat Pahang 4-0. It was the first time Singapore had won the Cup since defeating Selangor 2-1 in 1980...

The grand opening of the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay was celebrated on 12 October 2002 with an extravaganza of music, dance and drama, followed by fireworks and a Harbour Spectacular at Marina Bay. Situated entirely on reclaimed land, Singapore’s national performing arts centre was named for the nearby Esplanade Park, one of the oldest public parks in Singapore...

This video was produced by the National Archives of Singapore in collaboration with the National Parks Board. Filmed in the months leading up to the launch of Gardens by the Bay, it gives a sneak peek inside the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest cooled conservatories – newly completed sites that have now become iconic parts of the Singapore skyline. The video was completed just before the official opening of Bay South Garden in June 2012...

The grand final of the 1976 Radio and Television Singapore Talentime was broadcast live from the Television Centre on Caldecott Hill. It featured eight finalists, comprising instrumental groups, vocal soloists and vocal groups. The Vintage, a vocal group comprising Jacintha Abisheganaden and siblings Lim Siauw Chong and Lim Cheng Hui, emerged victorious...

This was the very first episode of ‘Aksi Mat Yoyo’, a Malay-language children’s show that featured songs, dances and games. The info-educational series, which debuted in 1982, was so popular that it became a fixture on local television for 12 years. In 2012, the iconic series was revived and expanded with four versions in the four official languages. This episode features a skit about a lonely mermaid who wants to live out of water...

Debuting in 1993, the variety series ‘Rollin’ Good Times’ brought viewers on a weekly trip down memory lane. The show featured tribute bands, a Talentime segment, and guest appearances by famous local and international artistes. Another segment, ‘Yesterday’ recounted milestones in entertainment history. Hosted by Lauretta Alabons and Douglas Oliveiro, the first episode featured popular 1960s and 70s ‘A-Go-Go Queen’ Sakura Teng...

This long-running Mandarin variety show was a fixture on Monday night television in the 1990s. Each episode featured skits, games, and live performances by local and international artistes. The series made household names of actors such as Moses Lim, Jack Neo, Mark Lee and Henry Thia, and introduced the iconic characters Liang Po Po and Liang Xi Mei...

The ‘Life & Times’ series focussed on people, places and events in both Singapore’s past and present. This episode from 1986 features the Indian dhobies, who were originally laundrymen working in the Bras Basah area, but moved out following urbanisation in the early twentieth century. In the 1980s, dhobi shops could still be found around the island, where dhobies continued the traditional processes of boiling, soaking and drying clothes...

The Kallang Gasworks was originally built in 1862 to supply gas for the lighting of Singapore’s streets. Over the years, production increased due to demand for industrial and domestic use, and the coal used for gas production was replaced first by heavy fuel oil, then naphtha in the 1970s. In the mid-1990s, the Kallang Gasworks site began to be phased out, with operations gradually shifted to the new Senoko Gasworks...

As 1999 drew to a close and Singaporeans prepared to usher in the New Millennium, another issue dominated local headlines: the Y2K bug. There were concerns that the ‘bug’ would disrupt major services like banking, transport, telecommunications, public utilities and healthcare. Despite this, most Singaporeans were confident that the country was sufficiently prepared to handle any Y2K-related issues...

Following the announcement of Tanjong Pagar Railway Station’s impending closure, an audiovisual technical team from the National Archives of Singapore set about capturing the last days of the 79-year-old terminus. Shot over several weeks, the video features interviews with tenants at the station and follows a public walking trail past landmarks along the railway such as Bukit Timah Station and the bridges near the Rail Mall and Dunearn Road...

‘Time nor Tide’ was one of many documentaries broadcast during the week of national mourning (23–29 March 2015), following the passing of Singapore’s founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew. The three-part series traces Mr Lee’s life and work from the time he entered politics. For more archival materials from the National Archives of Singapore, please visit www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline.

‘The First Ride’ features the commencement of MRT passenger service on 7 November 1987. After more than four years of construction, the first five MRT stations opened to much fanfare and public excitement...

‘Diary of a Nation’ was an extensive 1988 documentary series on the history of modern Singapore, with episodes broadcast throughout the year. Each episode commemorated milestones in Singapore’s history, with topics ranging from government (the 1955 Elections, the formation of ASEAN), campaigns (Family Planning, Keep Singapore Clean), education (first junior college, first polytechnic) and more...

At 8.30am on 25 May 1998, two climbers from the Singapore Mount Everest Expedition Team became the first Singaporeans to reach the top of the world’s highest peak. Khoo Swee Chiow and Edwin Siew were part of an 11-member team that had trained for four years in preparation for the climb, and their achievement was celebrated by Singaporeans from all walks of life...

The inaugural Summer Youth Olympic Games were held in Singapore in August 2010. It was the culmination of two-and-a-half years of planning and preparation, following Singapore’s selection as the host city by the International Olympic Committee in February 2008. Two weeks before the start of the 12-day sporting event, the Youth Olympic Village at the Nanyang Technological University was officially opened...

On the morning of 13 August 2016 (the evening of 12 August in Rio de Janeiro), Singaporeans watched as 21-year-old Joseph Schooling pipped his childhood idol Michael Phelps to the Men’s 100m Butterfly crown – setting a new national, Asian and Olympic record of 50.39 seconds in the process. The historic win was the country’s first Olympic medal in swimming, and Singapore’s first Olympic gold medal in any sport...