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📷: Queues formed for the registration for Singapore citizenship (NAS)
#OnThisDay (1 Nov) in 1957, registration for Singapore citizenship began, after the earlier enactment of the Singapore Citizenship Ordinance in Oct 1957.
The introduction of a Singapore citizenship was first proposed by Chief Minister David Marshall in 1955. The proposal met with some opposition before an agreement was eventually reached in 1956 following discussions with the British government. The Singapore Citizenship Ordinance marked the nation's first step in establishing the national identity of its people as Singapore citizens.
Before the enactment of the Singapore Citizenship Ordinance, one's dominant identity was heavily based on one's race, language, religion, and country of origin. But with the ordinance, migrant communities who had stayed here for more than a decade could choose to officially commit to Singapore by swearing their loyalty to Singapore.
Many queued for more than an hour for their turn, some having waited for decades for this moment. The Ordinance was described as a "watershed" as more than 320,000 had registered as Singapore citizens when the campaign ended in Jan 1958. Citizenship matters, and was important as rights and privileges are attached to being a citizen, especially, the right to vote for their own government. Regardless of race or background, they all stepped out the door as Singaporeans, the FIRST people in history to be called Singapore citizens.
#Singapore #SingaporeCitizen #Citizenship