Speech by Minister at NLB Donors' Appreciation Night 2025

NLB’s esteemed donors

Mr Ng Cher Pong, CE, National Library Board

Ms Melissa-May Tam, CE-Designate, National Library Board

Distinguished guests

Colleagues and Friends,

1. I am very glad to be here tonight to personally thank our donors who have contributed to growing the collections of the National Library and the National Archives of Singapore.

2. In the last twelve months alone, close to 100 donors have contributed more than 3,300 items, such as photographs, manuscripts, and audio and video recordings. They join the close to 3,000 donors who have donated more than 328,000 items since NLB became a statutory board 30 years ago.

3. Our collections are now a treasure trove of historical and cultural artefacts; the oldest item dates back to the 15th century! They hold a wealth of unique and invaluable knowledge about who we are. Significantly for a young nation, they have the potential to ignite and sustain the interests of Singaporeans in our shared history and heritage.

4. To all donors past and present, thank you very much. The Tun Tan Cheng Lock Trust, for example, supported the revamping of the Rare Collections Gallery, enabling it to grow to twice its original size. Your generosity will inspire others to also contribute to NLB’s ability to serve Singaporeans as the key memory institution.

5. While much of the heritage collection are physical items, NLB must continue to make them digitally accessible to patrons where feasible. This is because the public increasingly consumes information digitally.

6. The National Reading Habits Study in 2016 found that 41% of adults read at least one digital book, magazine, or article in the past 12 months. By last year, unsurprisingly, this figure has increased by 14%, to 55%. We see similar trends among archivists and collection management professionals around the world.

7. Through NLB’s dedicated and innovative efforts in preserving, conserving and digitising these treasures, we have developed a virtuous cycle. Storytellers are eager to access our collections to help them tell engaging and memorable Singapore Stories. This growing reputation, in turn, attracts even more generous donors, like you, who know that your collections will be well-preserved and used meaningfully.

8. On average, more than 100,000 records - audio, video, photos, documents, books - are consulted annually by the general public. They come from all walks of life - students, researchers, academics, heritage enthusiasts and content creators. Demand keeps growing.

9. One recent example is Channel NewsAsia, which produced the documentary “Separation: Declassified”. The producers are in fact very young. They were not here in 1965; nor could they rely on family members who are themselves too young to know, or have forgotten. The producers told me they were able to recreate the story of Separation, due largely to the rich resources and support of the National Archives. Well done, NAS colleagues!

10. I want to turn now to an important project we have been working on for some time.

11. This being the year of SG60, there’s renewed interest in the story of our birth. After all, we are still a very young nation. And yet, so much has changed in the six decades since separation that it is easy to forget the circumstances that led to our independence, as well as the subsequent choices we made as a fledgling nation.

12. As our key memory institution, NLB’s role includes helping every generation to remember and appreciate the extraordinary story of Singapore’s birth. It has done so through its collections and as opportunities arose over the years.

    1. In 2014, NLB organised the Battle for Merger exhibition. It featured the radio talks given in 1961 by Mr Lee Kuan Yew and on the possible merger with Malaya and the Communist Party of Malaya’s aims to oppose the merger.

    2. In 2019, NLB created the Bicentennial Experience, the flagship event of the Bicentennial commemoration, which used our collections to tell the story of Singapore’s 700-year history.

    3. In 2024, NLB presented a ChatBook featuring Mr S. Rajaratnam - a Gen AI-powered chat service where users can learn about Mr Rajaratnam and our shared history through the rich resources from our collections and the authorised biography written by Ms Irene Ng.

13. From August to December this year, the SG60 flagship event, Heart&Soul Experience is also being held. It uses oral histories and photographs to take visitors through a voyage of Singapore’s past, present and future. As the capstone event for SG60, NLB will launch a new, permanent exhibition on “The Albatross File: Singapore’s Independence Declassified”. This will be based on a book that will be launched alongside the exhibition.

14. If you are wondering: What is the “Albatross File”? For those who have not heard, it is the collection of documents, handwritten notes, and Cabinet papers between 1964 and 1965 kept by one of our founding leaders Dr Goh Keng Swee.

15. We owe much to Dr Goh whose hard-headed policies gave us much of the firm foundations we have in our defence, finance, economy, education, and even our cultural life. But none of these would have come to pass had we not become an independent nation.

16. The Albatross File is a significant collection precisely because it captures in detail the deliberations and negotiations leading up to the 1965 separation of Singapore from Malaysia. It was a pivotal moment in history that changed the course of our little red dot, and led us to chart our own destiny.

17. What does the book on Albatross contain? The book is organised in three parts:

    1. The first part consists of two critical historical introductions – one by Prof Tan Tai Yong on the lead-up to Merger; and the other by Prof Albert Lau on the lead-up to Separation. Both are respected scholars who know the subject well.

    2. The second part consists of 23 documents from the Albatross file. They range from half-page Memos to 20-page cabinet papers, and are cross referenced with contemporaneous documents on the same events, declassified by other countries.

    3. The third part consists of excerpts from oral histories of Singaporean leaders of that era. For the first time, the excerpts from the oral histories of Dr Goh Keng Swee, Mr Lee Kuan Yew and Mdm Kwa Geok Choo (Mrs Lee) will be presented.

18. The book is intended to be read as a whole. I have no doubt the oral histories provide a dramatic human dimension to the Albatross documents, just as the Albatross documents anchor the oral histories in fact and contemporary evidence. But at 488 pages, we do not assume it will be read widely. Hence the exhibition NLB has been planning.

19. Fortunately for us, the Albatross File was transferred to the National Archives in 1996, nearly three decades ago from the Prime Minister’s Office then, as part of the regular transfers of government records of national or historical significance to NAS for permanent preservation.

20. For nearly three decades, NAS staff have carefully maintained the files in acid-free archival boxes and stored them in environmentally controlled repositories to slow down the deterioration of paper-based materials. They also meticulously made surrogate microfilms and digital copies to minimise the handling of the original files. We really owe it to the commendable efforts of our colleagues that we are now able to feature the declassified items in the Albatross File book and exhibition.

21. Visitors to the exhibition will see original artefacts from The Albatross File on display, such as handwritten notes of Dr Goh and Mr Lee, Cabinet papers which discuss the policy deliberations behind merger and separation, as well as hear first-person narratives of founding fathers and others involved.

22. Many of these artefacts will be on display for the first time. One can also hear excerpts of oral histories of Dr Goh Keng Swee, Mr Lee, and Mrs Lee, which have not been made public until now.

23. The story of Singapore’s birth is as unexpected as it is remarkable. It is a story that deserves to be told again and again, through different lenses.

24. We hope that this introspective and immersive exhibition give Singaporeans a deeper understanding of our nation’s journey to independence, and fosters a stronger appreciation of our shared identity and future.

25. Thank you once again for being here.