October – J. B. Jeyaretnam wins the 1981 Anson by-election, ending the People's Action Party's dominance in Parliament. November 9 November – The Institute of Education moves out of Paterson Road, relocating to Bukit Timah. December 29 December – Changi Airport is officially opened. Births 29 January – Rui En, Actress. 27 March – JJ Lin, Singer. 24 May – Olinda Cho, Singer, second runner-up of Singapore Idol (season 1). 17 July – Jeremy Chan, Actor. 25 July – Kaira Gong, Singer 4 October – Alfred Sim, Singer, winner of Project SuperStar (season 3). 5 October – Kelvin Tan, Singer. 15 November – Joanna Dong, Singer and third place of Sing! China (season 2). 10 December – Taufik Batisah, Singer, winner of Singapore Idol (season 1). Deaths 12 January – John Fearns Nicoll - Governor of Singapore from 1952 to 1955 (b. 1899). 11 February – Chan Choy Siong - Female politician, women's rights activist, campaigner for Women's Charter (b. 1934). 12 May – Dr Benjamin Henry Sheares - 2nd President of Singapore (b. 1907). References Singapore Years in Singapore Singapore