Our History

In 1967, Lord Louis Mountbatten, Grand President of The Royal Life Saving Society met several enthusiastic lifesavers and suggested the formation of a Singapore Branch in view of the growing interest in lifesaving and the excellent work carried out in Singapore. Lord Mountbatten sought clearance from the then Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr Lee Kuan Yew and this was granted. The Singapore Branch of the Royal Life Saving Society was thus formed on 16 August 1967 with Mr Rowland Lyne as the President, Mr Milton Tan as the Vice-President and Mr Lee Hon Ming as Honorary Secretary. When Mr Rowland Lyne retired and left Singapore in 1968, Mr Milton Tan who was also President of the National Safety Council of Singapore, was elected to take over as the President of the Singapore Branch.

Urged by the Singapore Council of Social Services and with the approval of The Royal Life Saving Society at its Commonwealth Conference in 1981, the Singapore Branch was renamed the Singapore Life Saving Society (SLSS) on 7 June 1982. The SLSS is a society registered under the Societies Act.

Mr Milton Tan stepped down as President of the SLSS in March 2004 after close to 40 years of outstanding service and was honoured by being made a Honorary Life President of the SLSS. Mr Woon Sui Kut served as President from 2004 to March 2008 and Mr Richard Tan Ming Kirk is the current President of the SLSS. The Honorary Advisor of the SLSS is Dr Teo Ho Pin, Mayor of North-West CDC.