The following lists events that happened during 2019 in the Republic of Singapore.
Incumbents
President: Halimah Yacob
Prime Minister: Lee Hsien Loong
Events
January
1 January
The National Environment Agency starts enforcing a smoking ban in Orchard Road. At the same time, the smoking age increases to 19. Jurong Central Plaza is officially opened after the previous Hawker Centre located at the same precinct in Jurong West was on fire in 2016. 2 January The digital switchover is completed and the transmission of analogue television ceases. The signals are shut on same day. The registration of e-scooters has started. In response to the new instrument landing system procedures at Seletar Airport, a permanently restricted area in the delegated airspace over Pasir Gudang by Malaysia becomes operational. It would have impacted normal, existing air traffic in the airspace above Johor and Singapore. The restricted airspace and ILS procedures are suspended on 8 January after discussions between the two countries. On 25 January, the suspensions are extended to 31 March. 7 January Platinium Dogs Club's owner is arrested by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA; now the National Parks Board (NParks) after AVA's dissolution) after a series of alleged animal abuse cases causing one death. The premises were raided by authorities last month. The Thomson–East Coast MRT line will have a station in Founders' Memorial, which will open in 2027. The Ministry of Health announced it will take over ElderShield from Aviva, NTUC Income and Great Eastern Life in 2021. 10 January – Go-Jek launched in Singapore. 12 January library@harbourfront is officially opened after moving from Bukit Merah. Located in VivoCity, the library places an emphasis on digitalisation. Singapore launched the Year Towards Zero Waste campaign in a bid to raise awareness on waste issues, with a zero-waste masterplan soon. Chen Si Jie wins $193,400 in the long-running MediaCorp Channel 8 game show The Sheng Siong Show, surpassing Low Soh Kim's winnings of $162,550 (previously won on 18 February 2017) as the all-time biggest winner in the show's history. 13 January – The Ten Mile Junction LRT station on the Bukit Panjang LRT line becomes the first operational train station in Singapore to permanently close. 14 January CapitaLand will acquire Ascendas-Singbridge in an S$11b deal, creating Asia's largest real estate company. The acquisition, subsequently approved on 12 April by 90% of shareholders is completed on 30 June and unified the next day. The Payment Services Act is passed to streamline payment laws and puts a cap on money in e-wallets. During the O Level results, the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board reveals that 32 Additional Mathematics Paper 2 exam scripts which belonged to students from two secondary schools went missing in the United Kingdom while being transported for marking. That happened after the bag containing the scripts was mistakenly taken by a passenger. On-screen marking of scripts may be used more often after this incident. 15 January SingHealth cyberattack: The Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) fines IHiS S$750,000 and SingHealth S$250,000 for not doing enough to safeguard personal data under the Personal Data Protection Act, the largest imposed on data breaches. Separately, more measures are announced to strengthen the cybersecurity of healthcare, including separating the Ministry of Health's chief information security officer (MOH CISO) and IHiS cybersecurity director into two separate posts, better defences, piloting a "Virtual Browser" and continuation of Internet Surfing Separation. Contributions to the National Electronic Health Record will be deferred. Changes to the Misuse of Drugs Act are passed to emphasise rehabilitation and protect children from drugs. 18 January Food products with alcohol, including alcoholic ice cream, can be sold after 10:30 pm following an exemption under the Liquor Control (Supply and Consumption) Act. This comes after FairPrice restricted the sale of such ice cream to comply with the Act, prompting a review that was announced on 25 October 2018. Surbana Jurong starts building its new global headquarters in the future Jurong Innovation District, located close to Nanyang Technological University. When completed in 2021, the headquarters will research on urban solutions. MINDEF announced that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is identified as the most suitable replacement for the F-16s, which face obsolescence beyond 2030. A small number of F-35s will be purchased for evaluation before full-scale deployment.