Singapore Standard Time (SST) or Waktu Piawai Singapura (WPS) (Chinese: 新加坡标准时间) is used in Singapore and is 8 hours ahead of GMT (UTC+08:00).
Contents
History
As part of British Malaya, Singapore adopted the Malayan time which was 7 hours 30 minutes ahead of GMT.
Following the Japanese occupation, Malaya adopted Tokyo time of GMT+9 on 15 February 1942. 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.
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. The change took effect on 1 January 1982, when Singapore moved half an hour forward, creating "Singapore Standard Time" (SST). SST is eight hours ahead of UTC and is synchronized with Hong Kong, Taipei, Beijing, Manila and Perth.