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FORMER CITY HALL<br />
Located in the heart of the Civic District, the Former City Hall<br />
served as an important government office in Singapore. The<br />
impressive building bears witness to Singapore’s colonial past and the<br />
Japanese Occupation (1942–1945), as well as to several milestones on<br />
its road to independence. The building was duly renamed City Hall<br />
when King George VI granted city status to Singapore in 1951.<br />
After the landslide victory of the People’s Action Party in the 1959<br />
Legislative Assembly General Elections, Lee Kuan Yew was sworn<br />
into political office as Singapore’s first Prime Minister with his eight<br />
cabinet ministers in the City Hall and formally declared Singapore’s<br />
full internal self-governance on the building’s steps. On 3 December<br />
1959, large crowds congregated outside the City Hall to witness the<br />
installation of Yusof bin Ishak as Singapore’s first Malayan-born<br />
Yang di-Pertuan Negara (‘Head of State’ in Malay). They were also<br />
introduced for the first time to the state anthem, Majulah Singapura,<br />
state crest, and state flag.<br />
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