– Kallang Gasworks ceases operation after operating continuously for 137 years except during the world wars. The facility is subsequently demolished. 28 March – The new Changi General Hospital is officially opened. April 1 April – The Electronic Road Pricing, a traffic control scheme begins operations. The Ministry of Manpower is formed to better support workers, replacing the previous Ministry of Labour. The move is first announced on 24 February. Singapore Immigration and the National Registration Department have combined to form the Singapore Immigration and Registration (present-day Immigration and Checkpoints Authority), handling both citizenship and immigration matters in Singapore. 15 April – The Singapore Film Commission is established to support local films. 18 April – The Malaysia–Singapore Second Link is officially opened. 23 April – The Telecommunications Authority of Singapore announced that StarHub is awarded a licence to operate both a Public Basic Telephone Service (PBTS) and Public Cellular Mobile Telephone Service (PCMTS). In addition, P2P is awarded only a PCMTS licence. These services will be launched by 1 April 2000, with full liberalisation of telecommunication services in 2002. May 17 May – Jack Neo releases his very first movie, Money No Enough, that starred Neo, himself together with Mark Lee and Henry Thia. 22 May – In the Taw Cheng Kong case, for the first time in Singapore's history the High Court strikes down a statutory provision as unconstitutional, holding that it is inconsistent with Article 12(1) of the Constitution. (The decision is reversed by the Court of Appeal later that year.) 25 May – Edwin Siew and Khoo Swee Chiow successfully conquer Mount Everest as part of the Singapore Everest Team, following a failed attempt on 19 May. This makes it the first Singapore team to climb Mount Everest. June 12 June – The Marina MRT line is announced, which will be long and have 20 stations. It was to have been completed in 2004, but it merged as Stage 1 of the Circle MRT line in 2001. In addition, another 46 trains will be bought, with 25 for the North East MRT line, five for Changi Airport Line (CAL) and 16 more for the North South and East West lines. July 1 July – Four Seas Bank merges with OCBC Bank. 24 July – The Ministry of Finance announced the acquisition of POSBank by DBS Bank in a push to consolidate Singapore's banks into stronger banks, as