The Albatross File is unveiled, telling the story behind Singapore's break-up with Malaysia

Singapore’s independence was not inevitable

Key leaders on both sides pushed for Separation: Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the launch of the Albatross File book and exhibition on 7 Dec 2025

By Ng Wei Kai, The Straits Times, 8 Dec 2025

• Lee Kuan Yew was quite torn about Singapore's separation from Malaysia in 1965, preferring greater autonomy within the federation.

• Racial tensions and political pressure led to the separation, and the Albatross File kept by Dr Goh Keng Swee revealed his push for a clean break.

• SM Lee launched a new book and exhibition to share this history, emphasising that trust in leadership has to be won and the importance of racial harmony for Singapore.

Till the final days before Separation, founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew was ambivalent about Singapore leaving Malaysia.

Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong recounted how the Lee family were on holiday in Cameron Highlands on Aug 3, 1965, when his father received a call from Dr Goh Keng Swee, the principal negotiator on the Singapore side.

“I was in the room at Cluny Lodge when my father took a call that afternoon and I heard him tell Dr Goh in Mandarin: ‘This is a huge decision; let me think about it.’,” SM Lee said on Dec 7 at the launch of the Albatross File book and exhibition at the National Library in Victoria Street.

“I didn’t know then what it was about, but it became plain soon enough,” said SM Lee, who became emotional and held back tears as he related this memory.

While Mr Lee had brought enormous political pressure to bear on the federal government in the preceding months, which forced the hand of then Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman on what to do with Singapore, Separation was not the outcome he preferred, said SM Lee.

“His aim was to strengthen Singapore’s position politically, so as to compel the federal government to grant Singapore greater autonomy... Separation was to be an option only if Singapore could not get such a rearrangement.”

Yet, within a few years, all of Singapore’s founding leaders – including Mr Lee and those who had signed the agreement to separate reluctantly – concluded that Separation was the best thing that ever happened to Singapore, said SM Lee.

“In this SG60 year, we are very glad that Dr Goh did what he did. Singapore has thrived and progressed far beyond anything the founding fathers imagined,” he said, choking up with emotion again.

The Albatross File is a collection of previously classified documents that Dr Goh had kept from 1964, such as his handwritten notes about discussions with Malaysian leaders in the months before Separation.

A new book – The Albatross File: Inside Separation – draws on Albatross, alongside oral history interviews with Singapore’s founding leaders. It was launched by SM Lee on Dec 7, and is the basis of a new permanent exhibition at the National Library Building that opens to the public on Dec 8.

Dr Goh, who was finance minister at the time, had named the file Albatross after the large seabird as he felt Malaysia had become an albatross around Singapore’s neck.

After the PAP won all three Malay-majority seats in the general election held days after Merger in 1963, “ultras” (radicals) in UMNO succeeded in sowing deep distrust between the Malays and Chinese in Singapore. This culminated in race riots in July and September 1964.

Mr Lee decided on a political counter-offensive, which included a crucial speech he gave in fluent Malay in the Malaysian Parliament on May 27, 1965, and another speech at the Malaysian Solidarity Convention on June 6. The convention, initiated by PAP leaders, was a united front of non-communal political parties across Malaysia.

Those were tense days – Mr Lee knew his strategy put him at grave peril, and he was aware that the federal authorities were considering arresting him, said SM Lee, recounting a conversation the two had during that period.

“I was 13 years old then. One day, on the Istana golf course, he told me that if anything were to happen to him, I should look after my mother and younger siblings,” he said.

Mr Lee found out only decades later, when he was preparing his memoirs, that contrary to his instructions, Dr Goh had never tried for the looser federation he had preferred, and from the start sought a clean break from Malaysia.

He was so astonished at this discovery that he made a note of the exact time, date and place when he first learnt this in August 1994. He wrote that in the margin of the transcript of Dr Goh’s oral history, next to the passage where Dr Goh confirmed that it was he – and not Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Razak – who wanted Singapore’s “hiving off”.

“Mr Lee told some of the ministers about this, and his great surprise at what had really happened – he also spoke to me about it,” said SM Lee.

The page with Mr Lee’s handwritten note is one of the key items in the exhibition.

SM Lee said the Cabinet papers, records of conversations with Malaysian leaders and British and Australian diplomats, and Dr Goh’s handwritten notes inside Albatross gave a dramatic, blow-by-blow account of how Singapore came to separate from Malaysia.

When he was prime minister, SM Lee said he decided that the file should be declassified and published, together with relevant extracts from the oral histories of key participants in Separation, to put on record a full documented account of this seminal event in Singapore’s independence journey.

“The reader will not only understand the actions and events that led to Separation, but also feel the emotions and passions of our founding leaders,” he added. “It is a history well worth publishing.”

There are two enduring lessons for Singapore from its two years in Malaysia, said SM Lee.

The first is that trust in government – in the political leadership, in particular – is founded on the people knowing their leaders will always have their backs.

Singaporeans saw Mr Lee stand up to the ultras and knew he could not be cowed. A week before Dr Goh’s first meeting with Tun Razak, other PAP ministers such as Dr Toh Chin Chye and Dr Goh held a press conference to declare that they would not quietly acquiesce if Mr Lee was detained, noted SM Lee.

The Republic’s founding leaders therefore won the right to govern because Singaporeans were convinced that Mr Lee and his team could not be intimidated into compromising Singapore’s interest, he added.

“His successors have not forgotten this lesson – no Singapore PM has ever allowed any force or power, whether foreign or domestic, to intimidate us into compromising our national interest or sovereignty,” said SM Lee.

The other lesson is to never take Singapore’s racial and religious harmony for granted.

In his oral history, Mr Lee said one of his most vivid memories from those two years was how easy it was to arouse communal passions and undo years of work trying to bring the races together.

Even in HDB estates, where the norm is for Singaporeans of different races to live together, Mr Lee said he never allowed himself to forget how fragile interracial harmony and trust is.

“It can be snapped, broken, smashed – the dynamics of communal politics or communal politicking will override reason and logic.”

SM Lee said: “We separated from Malaysia because of racial and religious politics. We will not allow race or religion to break up Singapore.”

The way we tell the Singapore Story needs a refresh: Tan Tai Yong

The country’s journey was woven into the personal lives of older Singaporeans. Younger citizens can’t relate to that.

By Tan Tai Yong, The Straits Times, 17 Aug 2024

Addressing the nation in front of the 19th century Sri Temasek building at the Istana, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong opened his National Day message by recounting how, in 1965, founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew had spent the night of Aug 8 there, just before formal separation from Malaysia, “consumed with worry over how to build a nation from scratch”. He added that the then Prime Minister and the founding leaders went on to overcome “enormous odds and laid the foundations” for the modern nation-state of Singapore.

The reference to history is a constant refrain at every National Day commemoration, when Singaporeans are reminded of the country’s journey from a small and vulnerable former colony to a thriving, successful nation-state.

Many older Singaporeans relate to the country’s journey of nation-building. They remember periods of labour unrest, urban poverty, ethnic conflicts, unstable times in Malaysia, and the domestic and international challenges following Singapore’s emergence as a new state. The Singapore Story is interwoven with their personal stories.

But for younger Singaporeans who did not live through these times, what does the Singapore Story mean? With each successive National Day, the events of Singapore’s early years will become more distant, and memories of the past will fade. History will be taught through our schools and public institutions, but a storytelling that does not resonate with personal memories and experiences runs the risk of raising scepticism, leading to a perception that official historical narratives and calls to remember our origin story are merely state-driven propaganda.

Engagements with history get further diluted when physical traces of the past start to vanish. Singapore’s rapid physical and social development since 1965 has challenged the different ways people remember and bind themselves to their community and country.

Herein lies the danger. A people that do not relate to their history will not fully appreciate the journey their country undertook, or why it adopted the values it did. Or why, in Singapore’s context, multiculturalism is such a key pillar, for example. It’s possible that such values will not be internalised and we may risk straying from them. That is why it is imperative that we imbibe our history and it strikes a chord with us, so that the values that the country upholds continue to be deeply and personally meaningful to us. At the same time, we need to understand the context of the decisions we took, so that we can adapt to changed circumstances instead of blindly mimicking past postures.

The future of our past

How, then, do we get the Singapore Story to resonate with younger Singaporeans and remain relevant for future generations?

At the ground-breaking of the Founders’ Memorial in June 2024, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong envisioned the Memorial as a space where Singaporeans can reflect on their ongoing nation-building journey, drawing on an understanding of our past and an appreciation of the “fundamental values and ideals” that set the long-term direction of Singapore.

His call to ensure that the Founders’ Memorial connects with future Singaporean generations presents an interesting task. It goes beyond recalling the words and deeds of Singapore’s founding fathers or knowing the history of those momentous years; it must engage younger Singaporeans who have only witnessed peace, stability and prosperity, and inspire them to understand the fundamental principles that define us as a society and country.

Singaporeans are not unfamiliar with the country’s history. The prevailing national narrative – the Singapore Story – features prominently within the educational curriculum, is recounted in biographies of political figures, showcased at National Day Parades, and exhibited across various national museums. With such frequent exposure, Singaporeans might believe they are fully knowledgeable about their country’s historical journey.

But merely knowing history might not be sufficient, as familiarity with events and personalities of the past does not necessarily make history personally relevant and meaningful. Beyond historical literacy – that is, knowing what happened – it is crucial to develop historical consciousness, which is the ability to make the past have meaning for us as individuals and as communities.

What does historical consciousness entail and how do we develop this in younger Singaporeans?

S. Rajaratnam: The Lion’s Roar, The Authorised Biography Volume Two

S. Rajaratnam: Recounting the life and work of one of Singapore’s core founding fathers

The Straits Times, 13 Jul 2024

Old Guard member S. Rajaratnam played a pivotal role in Singapore’s history, and his contributions are covered in the second volume of a biography by former journalist and ex-MP Irene Ng out in July 2024.

These edited extracts from S. Rajaratnam, The Authorised Biography, Volume Two: The Lion’s Roar, published by ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, touch on the 1964 racial riots, the Separation in 1965, and the crafting of the national pledge, as well as his visit to China in 1975, the first by a Singapore leader since independence.

How S. Rajaratnam handled Singapore’s 1964 race riots in the face of ‘arsonists playing firemen’

As he listened to the frantic voice on the phone, S. Rajaratnam realised that his greatest fear had come to pass. As one of the chief architects of Singapore’s independence, he had experienced some tough situations – but this was the worst tragedy to befall his country in his five years in politics.

It was July 21, 1964, barely a year after Singapore merged with Malaya and two Borneo states, Sabah and Sarawak, to form Malaysia in September 1963.

The voice on the phone that late afternoon was that of his close colleague Othman Wok, the social affairs minister. Othman had looked up to Raja, as the culture minister was usually known, since their journalism days in the 1950s. Raja had led the Singapore Union of Journalists as its president with Othman as his deputy.

After Raja, together with Lee Kuan Yew and others, formed the People’s Action Party (PAP) in 1954, Othman had joined the new left-wing party. What bound them was a common vision: to build a non-communal society based on justice and equality.

Now, on this hot, horrible day in July 1964, Othman bore news of a racial clash that threatened to tear apart the very fabric of society. “Some Malays are causing problems,” he reported. “Beating up Chinese bystanders. Things are getting out of control.”

Othman, the only Malay minister in the Singapore Cabinet, was leading a PAP contingent as part of a 20,000-strong procession to mark Prophet Muhammad’s birthday that day.

Over the phone, he told Raja the scenes he had just witnessed: Malay youths punching a Chinese policeman struggling to control the rowdy procession as it headed towards the Malay settlement of Geylang, then breaking off from the march to attack Chinese passers-by at random. Sensing danger, he and several others had slipped into the People’s Association headquarters in Kallang. This was where he had rung Raja.

The day being a public holiday, Raja was catching up on his reading in his book-lined home, a bungalow in Chancery Lane. At 49, he was the oldest among the nine-man Cabinet, and often appeared unflappable in any crisis. “He was very cool,” Othman recalled, “one who never got excited about anything.”

Raja might project an air of equanimity, but internally his thoughts were racing. He knew only too well how quickly racial and religious passions could boil over and lead to mass riots.

In a series of phone calls, he quickly conferred with prime minister Lee Kuan Yew and others on the dangerous situation. This was the first serious racial clash they had to deal with since taking charge of self-governing Singapore in 1959.

Gripped by urgency, he jumped into his sun-baked second-hand black Hillman and drove to his office at City Hall. As soon as he arrived and sat behind his desk, he began working the phone.

As story after story came in of Malay groups attacking Chinese people, overturning their cars, scooters and hawker carts, and setting their homes and businesses on fire, his alarm ratcheted up another notch.

The topmost priority of the PAP leaders was to contain the violence. To their frustration, however, they found their hands tied. Under the merger agreement between Singapore and Malaya, internal security did not come under Singapore’s control but under the federal government in Kuala Lumpur.

As reports of casualties poured in, the Singapore leaders urged KL to impose a curfew. Malaysian prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman was away in America, leaving his deputy, Tun Abdul Razak, in charge. The curfew was finally called at 9.30pm. But still the streets seethed with savagery.

Disturbingly, reports began filtering in that the KL-controlled security forces, who were mainly Malay, were siding with Malays against Chinese. In turn, Chinese secret society gangs, having lost confidence in the police, led revenge attacks against Malays. The spiral of violence seemed unstoppable.

As the government’s communications czar, Raja knew that the public needed assurance. The government must be seen to be in control, even if it might not be. The former newspaperman had long understood the power of words. In such a tinderbox atmosphere, just one wrong word, one insensitive phrase, could set off another cycle of violence.

Construction of Founders’ Memorial begins, opening slated for 2028

A memorial that honours Singapore’s founders and keeps alive their ideals in our nation-building journey

By Ng Keng Gene, Correspondent, The Straits Times, 6 Jun 2024

Construction of the Founders’ Memorial – dedicated to Singapore’s pioneers and the values they exemplified – has officially started, and it is scheduled to open in 2028.

The memorial at Gardens by the Bay’s Bay East Garden will offer visitors an “integrated gallery and gardens experience”, said the National Heritage Board (NHB).

Within its two two-storey buildings, which will be connected by a common basement, will be a viewing gallery that overlooks Singapore’s city skyline, exhibition galleries, and multi-purpose rooms for workshops and programmes.

NHB said multiple paths will extend from the memorial into the larger Bay East Garden, with the memorial itself designed to depict a path – a symbol of the nation-building journey that Singapore’s founding generation and its leaders undertook.

The ground-breaking ceremony was held at Bay East Garden on June 5, and officiated by Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong. It was on June 5, 1959, that the first Cabinet of self-governing Singapore was sworn into office.

At a reception held at Gardens by the Bay’s Flower Field Hall after the ceremony, SM Lee said the memorial will tell of how the nation’s founding leaders “overcame the odds to build a strong, united, and independent Singapore”. Stories will capture “how they led the people of Singapore through successive battles”, he said.

“First against colonialism, then communism, and finally communalism; and how they then built a nation based on the values and ideals embodied in the pledge, launching us on the journey that has led to the Singapore that we see today.”

He was joined at the ceremony by Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong, Minister for National Development Desmond Lee and Founders’ Memorial Committee co-chairs Lee Tzu Yang and Tan Tai Yong, as well as community representatives including students, memorial volunteers and donors.

Those who participated in the ground-breaking planted saplings that were grafted from trees planted by Singapore’s leaders during the early years of the nation’s greening journey.

Species planted included the yellow flame (Peltophorum pterocarpum), a native species that was planted by founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew in 1971 at Tanjong Pagar Community Club; a sea grape (Coccoloba uvifera), planted by Dr Goh Keng Swee in 1975 at Labrador Park; and a sea apple (Syzygium grande), which Mr S. Rajaratnam planted in 1980 at Block 12 North Bridge Road.

The saplings planted on June 5 will be featured in the Founders’ Memorial’s landscaping in the future, said NHB.

The memorial – mooted in 2015 following Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s death – was previously slated to be completed in 2027, but its construction timeline was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Its design by Japanese architecture firm Kengo Kuma & Associates, working in collaboration with Singapore firm K2LD Architects, was announced in March 2020 following an international competition launched in January 2019.

NHB said the memorial “aims to inspire Singaporeans to commit themselves towards a better future, as it will serve as a space to capture the spirit of our nation and unify Singaporeans”.

Between June and December in 2024, a mural titled Our Memorial, Our Singapore by local illustration studio 8EyedSpud will be displayed at Bay South Garden, near the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome.

By scanning a QR code that accompanies the mural, people can select activities they are most keen to engage in at the memorial and Bay East Garden – “a continuation of the memorial’s public engagement journey”, said NHB.

They may also leave well-wishes, which may be part of future hoardings for the memorial during its construction.

Mr Lee Tzu Yang said the committee will continue to engage Singaporeans “because the Founders’ Memorial is envisioned as a space owned by every generation, including future generations of Singaporeans”.

Public workshops and a pilot exhibition – titled Semangat Yang Baru: Forging A New Singapore Spirit – have been held to gather feedback for the upcoming memorial.

More than 900 stories and artefacts have been received for the memorial thus far following a public call, and over 140,000 people attended the exhibition, Mr Lee Tzu Yang said.

A Project Citizens campaign will be launched as part of the engagement to invite Singaporeans to contribute stories about the country’s founding history.

Commemorating the nation-building journey

SM Lee said that besides focusing on key leaders in Singapore’s first two decades of nation-building, the memorial’s project team is curating an installation specially to commemorate the founding generation.

“Through their words and deeds, the memorial will bring alive the values and ideals these pioneers exemplified, championed, and inculcated into Singaporeans,” he added.

Citing the backdrop to Singapore’s independence in August 1965 – the race riots of 1964 and Indonesia’s Konfrontasi – SM Lee said that unlike the independence of other post-colonial nations, the mood in the Republic was sombre.

The founding leaders rallied the population, and Singaporeans, whatever their previous political allegiances, united behind them, said SM Lee, adding that they witnessed various milestones, such as the withdrawal of British forces and the development of the Singapore Armed Forces, as well as housing and educating the people.

Even more importantly, they established fundamental values and ideals that set the country’s long-term direction: democracy, justice and equality, meritocracy and a drive for excellence, an unwavering commitment to honest, clean government and, above all, a multiracial society, SM Lee said.

He added that while the founding leaders did not get everything right, they made the right choices on the most important issues and Singapore succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.

Singapore’s origin story is unique, he said, noting that in the post-war era, many former colonies became independent countries like the Republic.

“But not many successfully shifted from the independence struggle to nation-building, from rousing revolutionary mobilisation to the patient slog of improving people’s lives. Singapore did,” he said.

He added that while Singapore has several memorials that mark significant events in its modern history – the Civilian War Memorial and Kranji War Memorial, for instance – “we do not yet have a memorial to commemorate our nation-building journey”.

“Now, almost 60 years after Separation, and 80 years after the Second World War, the time has come for us to build one,” said SM Lee.

He added: “I hope this Founders’ Memorial will become a space where Singaporeans reflect on our ongoing nation-building journey; appreciate our precious inheritance from the founding generation; and resolve to continue building a harmonious and successful Singapore, based on our foundational values and ideals, for generations to come.”

In This Together: Singapore's COVID-19 Story

The Straits Times releases In This Together, a behind-the-scenes look at Singapore's COVID-19 story

By Justin Ong, Political Correspondent, The Straits Times, 20 Jan 2022

A new book released on Thursday (Jan 20) has chronicled the first two years of Singapore's fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, through the telling of pivotal behind-the-scenes moments and exclusive interviews.

In This Together: Singapore's Covid-19 Story contains 13 chapters written by journalists from The Straits Times newsroom who have been in the thick of covering the crisis. It is edited by executive editor Sumiko Tan.

The writers spoke to more than 300 people including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, President Halimah Yacob, Cabinet ministers, government officials, corporate leaders, front-line workers, volunteers, foreign workers and survivors of the disease.

The 352-page book is divided into two parts: Saving lives, where the efforts of the Government, healthcare sector and scientific community are documented; and saving livelihoods, which expounds on the parallel economic battle to preserve jobs, businesses and Singapore's hub status.

The opening chapter, titled It Took A Village, illustrates how 24 healthcare workers - including doctors, nurses, therapists and housekeepers - worked in tandem to help save the life of retired tutor Irene Tan, 67, who had a severe Covid-19 infection in March 2020.

The next chapter, Inside The War Room, provides a detailed look at how Singapore's leaders - from PM Lee to the multi-ministry task force and the Civil Service's Homefront Crisis Executive Group - tackled the most critical test faced by the city-state in over a generation.

Other highlights include the inside stories of how Singapore procured masks amid frenzied global demand in the early days, the bets and risks involved in purchasing vaccines, and the concerted push by hospitals to step up capabilities while their overwhelmed staff endured struggles of their own.

The book, which is published by Straits Times Press, also examines efforts to stamp out the virus in dormitories occupied by more than 300,000 foreign workers, who made up 19 out of 20 infections in 2020.

Interspersed between chapters are profiles of pandemic front-liners, survivors and people who died from the virus.

Putting this human touch to Singapore's entire undertaking against Covid-19 was a primary reason cited by Ms Tan in coming up with the book, which comes almost exactly two years after Singapore's first Covid-19 case was detected on Jan 23, 2020.

She said the book aims to pay tribute to front-liners - healthcare workers, public servants, those in essential services - whom people often take for granted.

And while journalism did not entail front-line activities such as swabbing or managing crowds, Ms Tan said that what journalists could do was chronicle for future generations the events of the day, so this period of history would not be forgotten.

"If someone were to read this 20 years down the road, they would understand what the first years of the pandemic were like, how Singaporeans felt, and why we did what we did," she added.

Ms Tan said that from the onset, the team was clear that In This Together was going to be a chronicle of Singapore's fight, rather than an assessment.

One major challenge for the project, which started in August 2020, was the unfolding realisation that the pandemic "was not going to go away any time soon", she noted. Publication - originally scheduled for the middle of 2021 - was delayed thrice and stories had to be updated each time.

"The delay allowed us to tell a fuller story," she said. But a decision had to be made on where to end the book, and the new Omicron variant provided that milestone.

Case numbers are rising around the world but severe infections and hospitalisations are not, and some scientists believe this could suggest the coming end of the pandemic.

In an introduction to the book, Straits Times editor Warren Fernandez, who is also editor-in-chief of SPH Media Trust's English, Malay and Tamil Media Group, wrote: "The book is not meant to be triumphalist or self-laudatory, but an honest record of the most severe test Singapore has faced in over a generation, and which will continue for some time yet as the crisis is far from over."

Straits Times news editor Karamjit Kaur, who co-wrote a chapter on aviation, said the book was a tough project as it had to take in the morphing virus and Singapore's changing responses.

Associate news editor Chang Ai-Lien, who co-wrote a chapter on hospitals, added: "Work on the book shadowed the trajectory of the virus, with its numerous twists and turns. The story is far from over."

Ms Kaur and Ms Chang helm the newsroom's own task force on Covid-19 coverage.

Health correspondent Timothy Goh, who wrote several segments including Singapore's hunt for masks, said working on the book brought home to him how the pandemic has affected everyone - young, old, rich, poor, minister, migrant worker.

"I also witnessed a very human and personal side to the officials we see in the media," he said. "Seeing the tiredness in their faces and hearing about the various doubts that were kept private till now reminded me that regardless of our station in life, for the past two years, we've also just been human beings trying to figure out a way to get through this, together."

The book was supported by the Ministry of Communications and Information in the form of book purchases. The ministry also helped to arrange some of the interviews, but left the shape of the book and the telling of the stories to the writing team.

Standing Tall: The Goh Chok Tong Years Volume 2

ESM Goh Chok Tong launches second part of biography titled Standing Tall on 7 May 2021

4G leader will have to bring rest of team together: PM Lee Hsien Loong

He urges younger Cabinet colleagues to take reference from Goh Chok Tong and his team

By Linette Lai, Political Correspondent, The Straits Times, 8 May 2021

As the People's Action Party's fourth-generation (4G) ministers deliberate on their next leader, their eventual choice has to be someone who is able to bring the rest together, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday.

He urged his younger Cabinet colleagues to take reference from Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and his team.

"Whoever will be prime minister must first and foremost be someone who can bring the rest together," PM Lee said in a speech at the launch of Standing Tall, the second of a two-part biography of ESM Goh.

"Pull them together, make the most of the strengths of each minister, and make the whole greater than the sum of its parts."

He said this was the secret of ESM Goh's successful premiership.

Singapore's leadership succession was set back after Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced last month that he would step aside as leader of the 4G team, paving the way for a younger person to succeed PM Lee when he retires.

PM Lee said the latest Cabinet reshuffle - which saw seven ministries get new ministers - will give Singapore's 4G leaders a chance to work with one another in new capacities as a team.

This will strengthen their mutual understanding and teamwork and prepare them to take over from the current leadership, he added.

ESM Goh, who retired from politics last year, spoke at the launch about how his team enjoyed good camaraderie and had warm personal relations with one another.

"We might have had different points of view, but once a decision was made, all of us rallied behind it," he said. "We trusted each other. We worked as a team, with members looking out for one another. We had a shared sense of purpose. We were united."

ESM Goh also had words of advice for the 4G team - to continue working closely as a team to set the agenda for Singapore. "Show confidence and leadership as a group. Hone your political skills and prepare yourselves to take over the reins from the 3G."

He urged Singaporeans to give the 4G team time to make the important decision about their leader for the country's next lap.

Standing Tall was written by former Straits Times news editor Peh Shing Huei - now a partner at content agency The Nutgraf - and published by World Scientific.

One topic that comes up several times in the book is the difficulty of getting good people to join politics, a challenge that ESM Goh and PM Lee addressed in their speeches.

People who think that political succession is an "internal PAP problem" cannot be more wrong, ESM Goh said, referring to the People's Action Party.

"It is a national issue. We need people of ability and integrity to serve the nation," he added. "Many have answered the call, and more must do so."

PM Lee said he and ESM Goh often discussed the matter at their regular lunches, and noted that his predecessor's main motivation in having his biography written was to inspire more people to take the leap into politics and serve Singapore.

The Prime Minister acknowledged that the opportunity costs for any individual entering politics are significant, ranging from the loss of privacy to having to give up a promising career.

"But regardless of how difficult the task, we must persevere, and for Singapore's sake, we must hope that we succeed," PM Lee said. "Singaporeans deserve the best people that can be found and developed to serve and to lead them, as one united national team."

This is the only way to maintain the quality of government that Singaporeans have become used to, and the confidence in Singapore that attracts investments and creates jobs, he said. It is also the only way to assure the country's success, to secure the future of generations down the road.

PM Lee thanked ESM Goh for handing over a better Singapore to his successors.

"Now your successors must strive to do the same," PM Lee added.

Singapore's hawker culture added to UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage

Hawker Culture Is Singapore’s first Inscription on UNESCO’s Representative List Of The Intangible Cultural Heritage Of Humanity

By Clement Yong, The Straits Times, 17 Dec 2020

Singaporean to the core, conjuring up sights and smells instantly recognisable to locals everywhere, the nation's hawker culture has been officially added to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

In virtual proceedings that took place last night, a 24-member international committee unanimously accepted Singapore's application to have this tradition be internationally recognised.

The process took all of three minutes, after nearly three years of work by the National Heritage Board, the National Environment Agency and the Federation of Merchants' Associations. As Singapore's application fulfilled all criteria, it was decided that there was no need for debate on it at the 15th session of the intergovernmental committee.

🔴 BREAKING

Hawker culture in #Singapore🇸🇬, community dining and culinary practices in a multicultural urban context, has just been inscribed on the #IntangibleHeritage list.

Congratulations! 👏

ℹ️https://t.co/6FWrydUPUO #LivingHeritage pic.twitter.com/Z6p2CfED85

— UNESCO (@UNESCO) December 16, 2020

The successful nomination means Singapore now has its first item on the intangible cultural heritage list, which currently has more than 460 entries, including yoga in India and Belgian beer.

It is also the country's second entry to any UNESCO list, with the first in 2015 when the Singapore Botanic Gardens was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, in a pre-recorded video, told an international audience after the announcement last night: "Singapore's hawker culture is a source of pride for Singapore and all Singaporeans. It reflects our living heritage and multiculturalism, and is an integral part of the daily lives of everyone in Singapore regardless of age, race or background.

"I thank all our hawkers and Singaporeans for their overwhelming support of this nomination... We pledge to do our part to safeguard our intangible cultural heritage."

Having hawker culture on the list commits Singapore to protecting and promoting it. The country has to submit a report every six years to UNESCO, showing the efforts made to safeguard and transmit hawker culture to future generations.

Both President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong took to Facebook to thank those involved in the nomination process.

Madam Halimah said hawker culture has shaped Singaporean identity in many ways, and contributed to the diversity of Singapore's multicultural society.

PM Lee said the nomination journey had been a fruitful one. "The biggest thanks must go to the generations of hawkers for nourishing a nation's stomach and spirits. This recognition would not have come without their sweat, toil and dedication to their profession," he said.

The development is timely for the hawker sector here, which has in recent years found it difficult to attract young people to a trade that calls for 16-hour work days in hot, cramped stalls.

The authorities have sought, through traineeship programmes and monetary subsidies, to lower the barriers to entry for young aspiring hawkers. Since 2013, the median age for new entrants has been lowered to 46, although the overall median age for hawkers nationwide remains 59.

Singapore's submission - Hawker Culture In Singapore: Community Dining And Culinary Practices In A Multicultural Urban Context - was made in March last year, although preparations began earlier, in February 2018.

To celebrate the global recognition, the authorities said a three-week SG HawkerFest will be launched on Dec 26.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, activities will mostly take place online, including treasure hunts and quizzes that can be completed and then used to redeem vouchers that can be used at 29 participating hawker centres.

Governing: A Singapore Perspective by S. Jayakumar

1G to 4G - Singapore's leadership transitions

In his latest book, former senior minister S. Jayakumar shares his thoughts on how Singapore handles the issue of leadership succession in government. Here are excerpts from the book, Governing: A Singapore Perspective

The Straits Times, 7 Nov 2020

Some readers who are not Singaporeans might understandably be puzzled by references to "3G" or "4G", which means third generation and fourth generation respectively. Therefore, before I discuss the transition to the 4G leadership, it may be useful to quickly recap the different generations of leadership.

A different "G" label - indicating a distinct generational change - for different prime ministers' Cabinets is somewhat of a misnomer, and perhaps even misleading.

This is because each prime minister had a mix of ministers who were new and young, as well as older and more experienced. Several ministers served in the Cabinets of more than one prime minister.

For example, I was one of the few ministers who had the unique privilege of having served all three prime ministers. I was first elected as a Member of Parliament in 1980, appointed as a minister of state in 1981, and became a full minister in 1984, and I stepped down in 2011.

Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew's Generation of Leaders (1G)

Looking back, PM Lee Kuan Yew's team was the 1G leadership, although hardly anyone uses that term to refer to the founding fathers' group. PM Lee Kuan Yew's key Cabinet colleagues included Goh Keng Swee, S. Rajaratnam, Toh Chin Chye, Eddie Barker, Ong Pang Boon and Othman Wok.

PM Lee Kuan Yew served as PM for 31 years. In the latter half of the 1970s, he brought into his team younger people whom he hoped to test out to form the next generation of leaders. They included Goh Chok Tong, Tony Tan, Ong Teng Cheong, S. Dhanabalan, Lim Chee Onn and myself.

Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong's Generation of Leaders (2G)

Goh Chok Tong became Prime Minister in 1990 and stepped down in 2004, serving as PM for close to 14 years.

The process by which the 2G leaders selected him has been recounted, first by myself and later, by Goh Chok Tong himself.

In December 1984, Tony Tan organised a coffee/orange juice session at his home, attended by Ong Teng Cheong, S. Dhanabalan, Yeo Ning Hong, Ahmad Mattar, Lee Hsien Loong and myself. Chok Tong himself joined the meeting later. Several ministers of state were also present.

It was not a lengthy meeting and we decided that the leader of the team should be Goh Chok Tong.

PM Goh Chok Tong's team of key ministers included those present at that meeting, as well as Wong Kan Seng, Lim Hng Kiang and Lim Boon Heng.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's Generation of Leaders (3G)

Lee Hsien Loong, who entered politics in 1984, became Prime Minister in 2004, and at the time of writing, he has served 16 years as Prime Minister.

Before that, he was Deputy Prime Minister for almost 14 years in Goh Chok Tong's Cabinet.

PM Lee Hsien Loong's 3G team of key ministers included Teo Chee Hean, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Ng Eng Hen, K. Shanmugam, Lim Hng Kiang, Wong Kan Seng, Vivian Balakrishnan, Khaw Boon Wan, George Yeo, Yaacob Ibrahim, Mah Bow Tan and myself.

The process of selecting Lee Hsien Loong as PM was simpler. He had been appointed as DPM in 1990 and his performance as DPM had been outstanding. None of us in PM Goh Chok Tong's Cabinet had any doubts that he should succeed Goh Chok Tong as Prime Minister.

Sometime in mid-2004, Wong Kan Seng organised a lunch among ministers at his office and as Lim Boon Heng recalled it, the meeting was short because "the choice [of Lee Hsien Loong] was clear".

How did the 4G Decide on new leaders?

The process of selecting the 4G leaders was also different.

In December 2017, Goh Chok Tong, who was then Emeritus Senior Minister, nudged the 4G team to settle the question of leadership early so that PM Lee Hsien Loong could settle on his successor by the end of 2018.

However, the 4G team did not want to be rushed into a decision and on Jan 4, 2018, 16 ministers from the 4G issued a joint statement that they were "conscious of their responsibility, are working closely together as a team and will settle on a leader from among us in good time".

On Nov 23, 2018, almost 11 months later, 32 ministers and Members of Parliament issued a joint statement: "Now we have a consensus that the team will be led by Swee Keat."

They also noted that Heng Swee Keat had asked Chan Chun Sing to be his deputy, and Chun Sing had agreed to this.

In their joint statement, they said: "We endorse and support Swee Keat and Chun Sing as our leaders."

This ended months of speculation at that time on who the next PM might be.

On April 23, 2019, PM Lee appointed Heng Swee Keat as his DPM with effect from May 1, 2019.

This reinforced the expectation that he would become Singapore's next prime minister sometime after General Election 2020 (GE2020). It seemed that the only question was when PM Lee would step down.

COVID-19: Singapore and Singaporeans As One

As One - Short film series

The “As One” series of short films spotlight how public officers and Singaporeans came together to help Singapore to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inspired by true stories and told through the lenses of four Singaporean filmmakers 🇸🇬, the ‘As One’ short film series shows us how Singapore rose together, in these trying times.

From developing the SafeEntry system that allowed businesses to reopen, to caring for the wellbeing of migrant workers at the dormitories, these films seek to show how everyone has a critical role to play in overcoming this adversity together.