MDDI’s response to PQ on Declassification of Oral History Interviews by Singapore's Founding Leaders

Parliament Sitting on 13 January 2026

Question for Oral Answer

*63. Mr Fadli Fawzi: To ask the Minister for Digital Development and Information in respect of the declassification of the Albatross File (a) why was the oral history interview of Madam Kwa Geok Choo classified for over 40 years; (b) whether any other similar interviews remain classified; (c) who are the founding leaders whose interviews remain classified; (d) whether these interviews can be declassified; and (e) if not, why not.

Answer
Mr Speaker, as Members are aware, my Ministry recently released the contents of Dr Goh Keng Swee’s Albatross File, together with the excerpts of the oral histories of many of our founding leaders pertaining to the Separation of Singapore from Malaysia.

Oral history interviews conducted by NAS are governed by oral history agreements signed by the interviewees. The terms of the agreement vary based on the interviewees’ requests. For example, Mr C V Devan Nair, Mr S Rajaratnam, Mr E W Barker and Dr Albert Winsemius all signed the same agreement, which specified that the Cabinet Secretary may consider releasing their oral history interviews five years after their death. Their oral history interviews have been released in full.

Before releasing interviews for public access on Archives Online, NAS reviews them for sensitivities, including personal or private information about individuals, as well as matters that may affect national security or international relations. Where such sensitivities remain, access may need to stay partially or fully restricted for a longer time, even after the agreed withholding period has passed. This was the case for the oral histories of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Mdm Kwa Geok Choo and Dr Goh Keng Swee. Substantial excerpts of these oral histories were published recently together with “The Albatross File: Inside Separation”.

About 80% of NAS’s oral history collection is already publicly accessible. This includes interviews with many notable leaders from the pioneer generation, such as Mr Lim Kim San, Mr Othman Wok, Mr Lee Khoon Choy, Mr Mahmud Awang and Mr David Marshall. NAS will continue to work towards providing access to all interviews as soon as it is feasible to do so. Dr Goh’s oral history interview has been released with some redactions, and a fuller version of Mr Lee’s oral history interview will be made available soon. The oral history interview of Mr Ong Pang Boon will also be released later this year, in accordance with his request for a withholding period of 15 years after he was last interviewed in 2010.

*Converted to written answer