Singapore Standard Time

Singapore Standard Time
UTC offset
SST UTC+08:00
Current time
04:40, 23 October 2018 SST [refresh]
Observance of DST
DST is not observed in this time zone.

Singapore Standard Time (SST) or Waktu Piawai Singapura (WPS), also known as Singapore Time (SGT), is used in Singapore and is 8 hours ahead of UTC (UTC+08:00). Singapore does not currently observe daylight saving time.[1]

History

As part of British Malaya, Singapore originally adopted the Malayan time, which was 7 hours 30 minutes ahead of GMT in 1941.

Following the Japanese occupation, Malaya adopted Tokyo time of GMT+9 on 15 February 1942.[2] Although official appointments were made according to Tokyo time it was common practice to keep two separate times: the pre-Occupation time at home and Tokyo time on personal watches.

At the end of World War II and the return of Malaya to the British, Singapore reverted to its pre-war timezone.

Newspaper clipping from 27 September 1932 on Daylight Saving Bill

Daylight saving time in Singapore

Newspaper clipping from 31 December 1932 on putting the clock forward 20 minutes

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.

In 1932, Sir Arnold Robinson[3] 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.[4] The 20-minute offset was formally adopted as standard time in Singapore in 1936,[4] and in 1 September 1941 the offset was increased to 30 minutes,[5] the same as the 1920 proposal.

Malaysian standardisation

In 1981, Malaysia decided to standardize the time across its territories to a uniform UTC+08:00. Singapore elected to follow suit, citing business and travel schedules.[6][7] 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).[8] SST is eight hours ahead of UTC and is synchronized with Hong Kong, Taipei, Beijing, Manila and Perth.





History of Singapore Standard Time

Period in use[9] Time offset from UTC
(GMT prior to 1 January 1972)		 Reference Meridian Notes
Prior to 1 June 1905UTC+6hr 55m 25s103° 51' 16" E[10]
1 June 1905 – 31 December 1932UTC+07:00105° 00' 00" E
1 January 1933 – 31 August 1941UTC+07:20110° 00' 00" E[4]
1 September 1941 – 15 February 1942UTC+07:30112° 30' 00" E[5]
15 February 1942 – 11 September 1945UTC+09:00135° 00' 00" E[2]
12 September 1945 – 31 December 1981UTC+07:30112° 30' 00" E
1 January 1982 – presentUTC+08:00120° 00' 00" E[6] [7] [8]

Timekeeper

The Time & Frequency Laboratory of National Metrology Centre (NMC) establishes, maintains and disseminates the national time scale of Singapore, which is the Coordinated Universal Time of Singapore, UTC (SG) and Singapore Standard Time (SST). NMC aligns SST to the international time scale, the UTC, through regular time comparisons by Global Positioning System (GPS) All-In-View technique under a global network of about forty national time standard laboratories.[11]

IANA time zone database

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

C.C.* Coordinates* TZ* Comment Format UTC offset UTC offset DST Notes
SG+0117+10351Asia/Singapore Canonical +08:00 +08:00

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Current Local Time in Singapore". timeanddate.com.
  2. 1 2 "Malaya Finish With "Tokyo Time"". nlb.gov.sg. 7 September 1945. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  3. ↑ "Who is Sir Arnold Robinson". nlb.gov.sg. 5 August 1935. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 "Twenty Minutes". nlb.gov.sg. 4 January 1937. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  5. 1 2 "All Clocks Advanced Ten Minutes". nlb.gov.sg. 1 September 1941. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Press Release on Time Zone Adjustment" (PDF). National Archives of Singapore. 20 December 1981.
  7. 1 2 "Clocks will be set forward at 11.30 p.m. on Dec 31". nlb.gov.sg. 21 December 1981. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  8. 1 2 "Tonight's revelry will end half-hour earlier". nlb.gov.sg. 31 December 1981. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  9. ↑ "Why is Singapore in the "Wrong" Time Zone?". nus.edu.sg. 28 June 2012.
  10. ↑ "A Matter of Time". nlb.gov.sg. 31 May 1905. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  11. ↑ "National Time Scale of Singapore and Time-Dissemination". a-star.edu.sg.
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