Singapore Time

History

As part of the Straits Settlements, Singapore originally adopted the Malayan Time, which was GMT+07:30 in 1941.

Following the Japanese occupation, Singapore (known as Syonan-to during this time) adopted the Tokyo Standard Time of GMT+09:00 on 15 February 1942.

At the end of World War II and the return of the Straits Settlements to the British, Singapore reverted to its pre-war time zone.

Daylight saving time in Singapore

Although Singapore does not currently observe daylight saving time in the traditional sense due to its tropical location, a form of daylight saving time, using a 20-minute offset, was introduced on an annual basis by the Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements in 1933.

On 2 July 1920, a bill was intituled as Daylight Saving Ordinance, 1920. It is to introduce a 30-minutes offset or seven and a half hour in advance of Greenwich mean time. The bill was read for the first time on 5 July 1920 but was later abandoned.

In 1932, Sir Arnold Percy Robinson raised the idea of 20-minute offset after an earlier attempt was abandoned in 1920 which was first proposed by Sir Laurence Guillemard for a 30-minute offset. On 26 September 1932, a bill was intituled as Daylight Saving Ordinance, 1932. The Ordinance was passed at a meeting of the Legislative Council held on 5 December 1932 and approved by Sir Cecil Clementi (Governor) on 15 December 1932.

Between 1934 and 1935, the Daylight Saving Ordinance, 1932 was extended throughout both years by Gazette Notifications. The 20-minute offset was formally adopted as standard time in Singapore in 1936, the same as the 1920 proposal.

Malaysian standardisation

In 1981, Malaysia decided to standardise the time across its territories to a uniform UTC+08:00. Singapore elected to follow suit, citing business and travel schedules. The change took effect on 1 January 1982, when Singapore moved half an hour forward, on 31 December 1981 at 11:30 pm, creating "Singapore Standard Time" (SST). SST is 8 hours ahead of UTC and is synchronised with Beijing, Hong Kong, Manila, Shanghai, Taipei, Chongqing, Kunming, Bali and Perth.

Timeline

Legislation

Section 51(2) of the Interpretation Act 1965 (2020 Revised Edition) states ““Standard time” means standard time as used in Singapore, namely, 8 hours, or such other period as may from time to time be determined by the President by notification in the Gazette, in advance of Coordinated Universal Time”.

Timekeeper

In the early days, Singapore used a timeball on Fort Canning and Mount Faber for sailors to check with their chronometers by the falling ball at exactly 1 p.m daily. When the second world war came to Singapore, the Public Works Department (PWD) cut the masts down as the masts formed "ideal" markers for artillery. After the war, the timeball became redundant as most ships now had wireless to give them time signals.

The Time & Frequency Laboratory of A*STAR's National Metrology Centre (NMC) establishes, maintains and disseminates the Coordinated Universal Time of Singapore, UTC (SG) and Singapore Standard Time (SST), the national time scale of Singapore. The difference between UTC+08:00 and SST is never more than 0.9 seconds. NMC maintains five caesium atomic clocks and one hydrogen maser atomic clock.

IANA time zone database

The IANA time zone database contains one zone for Singapore in the file zone.tab:

References

References

1. (14 September 2020). "Current Local Time in Singapore".
2. (7 September 1945). "Malaya Finish With "Tokyo Time"". The Straits Times.
3. Attorney-General. (9 July 1920). "Daylight Saving Ordinance 1920". Straits Settlements Government Gazette.
4. (5 August 1935). "Who is Sir Arnold Robinson". The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser.
5. (4 August 1935). "Sir Arnold Robinson". The Straits Times.
6. (4 January 1937). "Twenty Minutes". Malaya Tribune.
7. Legislative Council. (30 September 1932). "Daylight Saving Ordinance 1932". Straits Settlements Government Gazette.
8. Legislative Council. (30 December 1932). "Daylight Saving Bill". Straits Settlements Government Gazette.
9. Legislative Council. (23 December 1932). "Daylight Saving Ordinance 1932". Straits Settlements Government Gazette.
10. (3 December 1934). "Daylight Saving". The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser.
11. (20 October 1934). "Daylight Saving To Continue". The Straits Times.
12. (1 September 1941). "All Clocks Advanced Ten Minutes". The Straits Times.
13. (27 August 1941). "Further 10 Mins. Daylight Saving". Malaya Tribune.
14. (20 December 1981). "Press Release on Time Zone Adjustment".
15. (21 December 1981). "Clocks will be set forward at 11.30 p.m. on Dec 31". The Straits Times.
16. (31 December 1981). "Tonight's revelry will end half-hour earlier". The Straits Times.
17. Helmer Aslaksen. (20 January 2019). "Why is Singapore in the "Wrong" Time Zone?".
18. "Time Zone in Singapore".
19. (15 May 1894). "Time, Gentlemen, Please". The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (Weekly).
20. (31 May 1905). "A Matter of Time".
21. "Interpretation Act 1965". Singapore Statutes Online.
22. (14 March 1948). "Good-bye to time-balls". The Straits Times.
23. Agency for Science, Technology and Research. (26 February 2020). "Time & Frequency".