National registration for Singapore's pink and blue identity cards

National registration for pink and blue Singapore identity cards (ICs) began on 9 May 1966. The first identity card to be developed after Singapore’s separation from Malaysia, it was introduced due to improved anti-forgery security technologies and changed political conditions.

 

With political separation, both the Singapore and Malaysia governments initiated new employment and immigration regulations. In November 1965, Singapore began Operation Survival, a set of measures taken to distinguish Malaysians from Singaporeans and ensure that Singapore citizens get priority in employment and social benefits. Laminated identity cards were to be produced for Singapore citizens (The Straits Times, 2 Nov 1965, p. 1).

 

Pre 1965 measures

The use of identification papers in Singapore had begun as early as 1938, when the Registration of Births and Deaths Ordinance made birth and death registration compulsory (Singapore: The encyclopedia, 2006, p. 244). However, it was the Emergency (Registration) Regulations Ordinance 1948 that made it compulsory for all persons in the colony above 12 years of age to be registered and issued with identity cards. This ordinance functioned as a security check against the communist insurrection in Malaya and Singapore at the time (Teo & Liew, 2004, p. 129), tracking the movements of people in and out of Singapore and Malaya in order to identify communist sympathisers.

 

Registration under the emergency measure took place in an unsystematic manner. Flimsy identity cards made of folded blue paper were issued, at times with inaccurate information, and without a serial number unique to the holder. This meant that a new number was issued each time the card was replaced and identification was based on the holder’s photograph and thumbprint. This led to widespread forgery of identity cards “sold on a mass scale to illegal immigrants” (Parliamentary Debates: Official Reports, 22 December 1965, Vol. 24, col. 459).

 

The Emergency (Registration) Regulations Ordinance 1948 was later repealed by the Registration of Persons Ordinance 1955 (Annual Report, 1966, p. 1). Subsequently, then Minister for Labour Jek Yeun Thong proposed a bill that eventually became the National Registration Act 1965 (Parliamentary Debates: Official Reports, 13 December 1965, Vol. 24, col. 42).

 

1966 National Registration Act

Coming into operation on 5 May 1966, the Act introduced a more comprehensive system of national registration (Teo & Liew, 2004, p. 150; Government Gazette. Subsidiary Legislation Supplement, 31 March 1966, Sp.S 56/1966, p. 143). It required all Singaporeans above the age of 12 to register themselves, while those who had existing identity cards issued under the 1955 Ordinance needed to go through re-registration.

 

The government initially had a scheme to help streamline and update the population re-registration as early as 1961. However, the plans were put on hold due to the merger with Malaysia and Singapore's subsequent exit. As soon as Singapore became independent, the government implemented its population re-registration plans (Annual Report, 1966, p. 1). The intention of doing this was to obtain more detailed population statistics, and in the long run, to provide each Singaporean with a unique alphanumeric serial number that could be used for citizenship certificates, Central Provident Fund accounts and birth certificates (Annual Report, 1966, p. 3; Teo & Liew, 2004, p. 165).

 

New identity cards

In designing the new identity cards, the government took steps to ensure improved security features so that it would be forgery-proof. The government wanted to “eradicate the forging of identity cards for sale to illegal immigrants who have imposed themselves on [Singapore’s] social services” (Parliamentary Debates: Official Reports, 22 December 1965, Vol. 24, col. 460). The result was a laminated waterproof German-made identity card that made tampering with the particulars and photograph difficult (Singapore: The encyclopedia, 2006, p. 244). Essentially, the new identity card acted as a passport to the rights of a Singapore citizen, with priorities of employment and social benefits.

 

Another significant change was the introduction of different colours for the two types of identity cards: Singapore citizens received pink cards while permanent residents who were non-citizens were given blue identity cards. This made it easier for employers to check the need for a work permit application against the employee’s identity card colour (Parliamentary Debates: Official Reports, 22 December 1965, Vol. 24, col. 460).

 

One concern reported in the press and brought up in Parliament (Parliamentary Debates: Official Reports, 30 December 1965, Vol. 24, col. 762) centred specifically on the citizenship status of people holding unnamed birth certificates (The Straits Times, 22 Dec 1965, p. 13). In the past, the names of some people born in Singapore were not entered on their birth certificates. The National Registration Act was therefore designed to prevent non-citizens from claiming to be born in Singapore using such unnamed birth certificates. Those with unnamed birth certificates had to further support their citizenship registration with a Singapore identity card issued in 1949 or earlier. They could also verify their Singapore citizenship by birth through other supporting documents such as the birth certificates of siblings and children, school leaving certificates, or vaccination or baptismal certificates (The Straits Times, 31 Dec 1965, p. 6; Parliamentary Debates: Official Reports, 30 December 1965, Vol. 24, col. 762). Other than this special case, applicants only needed to show proof of eligibility by providing a birth certificate or other evidence to demonstrate birth in Singapore, or a citizenship certificate (Government Gazette. Acts Supplement, 31 December 1965, Act 11 of 1965, p. 134).

 

Nation wide registration exercise

Beginning on 9 May 1966, the national registration exercise was conducted in three phases (The Straits Times, 25 Dec 1965, p. 4; Teo & Liew, 2004, p. 153). The first phase centred on schools where applications were limited to students, teachers, school staff and canteen vendors (The Straits Times, 8 May 1966, p. 3; The Straits Times, 10 May 1966, p. 4). The second phase targeted all commercial and industrial establishments as well as government departments that employed more than 50 workers. The final phase involved community centres, civil organisations and the rest of the population who had not registered (The Straits Times, 11 May 1966, p. 18; The Straits Times, 31 Mar 1966, p. 11). For greater convenience, registration would be done near or at the applicant’s place of work or residence. It cost applicants 50 cents for the pink card and a dollar for the blue card. Charges were waived for primary and secondary school students, inmates of social welfare homes, and recipients of public assistance (Annual Report, 1966, p. 4). In 1966 alone, a total of 1,204,719 people were issued with new cards, of which 134,560 were for non-citizens (Annual Report, 1966, p. 3). The first identity card, S00000001/I, was issued to Singapore’s first president, Yusof bin Ishak (Teo & Liew, 2004, p. 165). When re-registration was completed, the old paper identity cards were invalidated and ceased to be valid from 1 February 1967 onwards (Teo & Liew, 2004, p. 165).

 

Enhanced security features

The Singapore identity card subsequently went through a series of changes (The Straits Times, 12 Aug 1990, p. 15). In 1985, the blood type of cardholders was included on the card (The Straits Times, 18 Mar 1985, p. 13). In order to do this, a National Blood Grouping Exercise was carried out to record all the blood groups of Singaporeans (The Straits Times, 3 Jun 1985, p. 1). In 1989, a new credit card-sized identity card was introduced for greater durability and convenience (The Straits Times, 12 Aug 1990, p. 15). While the IC numbers of the respective holders remained the same (Teo & Liew, 2004, p. 154), the new “smart” IC had many additional security features such as the bar-coded IC number, the electronically captured and laser-engraved thumbprint and photo, and the laser image of Singapore’s lion head logo and holder’s IC number (Teo & Liew, 2004, p. 165; The Straits Times, 19 Mar 1991, p. 1; The Straits Times, 16 May 1991, p. 3). Indeed, the technical progress embedded within the high-tech IC made it a worldwide first (Teo & Liew, 2004, p. 165). The old laminated ICs subsequently ceased to be valid from 1 January 1996 (Teo & Liew, 2004, p. 155).

Sources

The information in this article is valid as at 2010 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Heritage and Culture
Politics and Government