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.”

PM Lawrence Wong’s Japan-China comments draw online backlash

Barbs and jibes by Chinese netizens over PM Wong’s remarks on Japan-China spat at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum 2025

Many videos, articles erroneously interpret his comments as Singapore taking Japan’s side

The controversy touches on World War II history, which many ordinary Chinese feel strongly about

By Lim Min Zhang and Magdalene Fung, The Straits Times, 26 Nov 2025

It started in Hong Kong, and then others in mainland China began jumping on the bandwagon.

Over the past week, barbs and jibes in the Chinese online space clustered over Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s recent remarks on a China-Japan dispute over Taiwan, which laid out the Republic’s longstanding position on developments in East Asia.

Anti-Singapore sentiment sparked by the island-state’s foreign policy stance is not new. Previous episodes range from a major online influence and disinformation campaign over the Terrex incident in 2016, a major diplomatic incident between Singapore and China when Hong Kong Customs seized Singapore’s military vehicles, to a more recent kerfuffle over Singapore’s identification of a cyber espionage group that has been linked to China.

But the current maelstrom is notable for the mix of voices seeking to give their own negative spin on PM Wong’s words, ranging from a Hong Kong news portal with a track record of echoing pro-Beijing and nationalistic sentiments, to commercially driven Chinese content creators who rely on online traffic for revenue.

The hostilities tap into chauvinistic sentiments in China that are now surging high, fuelled by propaganda reports that target Japan.

The testy environment in East Asia emerged in the wake of Nov 7 comments by Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, which Beijing took umbrage at. She said in Parliament that Chinese military action over Taiwan could constitute a situation that threatens Japan’s survival.

Beijing denounced this as interference in its “internal affairs”, responding with a firestorm of travel advisories, trade embargoes and military posturing.

Asked subsequently about the bilateral spat during the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore on Nov 19, PM Wong said that it is in everyone’s interest for there to be stability in Asia, and that he hoped both countries will find ways to de-escalate.

He also noted the “overhang of the history of World War II, which still remains between the two countries”.

“We hope the two countries will find ways to resolve these very complex issues and move forward. South-east Asia has done that with Japan. It has taken some time, but with the passage of time, with the passing of generations, the feelings are not the same, and we have put the history aside. And we are moving forward.”

The controversy touches on World War II history, which many ordinary Chinese feel strongly about. China views Japan as not having sufficiently apologised for its past atrocities committed during the war.

Smaller media outlets in Hong Kong were among the first to jump in on PM Wong’s statement.

Several, such as am730 and on.cc, ran almost identical headlines highlighting that PM Wong had “hinted” for China to “drop its historical prejudices”.

Among the city’s larger news platforms, HK01 – a site set up in 2016 by Beijing loyalist Yu Pun-hoi, a former chairman of Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao – published five articles over the past six days focused on PM Wong’s comments. All but one of the pieces were commentaries or analyses.

“Singapore’s obvious bias in the China-Japan spat is discomfiting,” read a Nov 24 article on HK01 that was syndicated from Guancha.cn, an ultra-nationalistic news site based in Shanghai.

This came in tandem with a surge of videos and articles posted on Chinese social media, with mostly self-styled commentators offering their takes on PM Wong’s remarks.

Many had erroneously interpreted them as Singapore taking Japan’s side against China. Some who left comments referred to Singapore by the derogatory term “Po County”, which references a lower administrative level in China. Others fumed at what they saw as an insinuation for China to “let go of the past”.

Comments have run the gamut from “Singapore is a running dog of the United States” to “China has been too good to Singapore”.

On Nov 25, “Why Singapore dares to interfere in the Sino-Japanese dispute” briefly became the top trending topic on Weibo, China’s version of X.

Some level of orchestration and manufactured outrage appears likely, given the coordinated fashion in which some of the commentary emerged.

Another motivating factor could be self-interest, as content creators look to drive eyeballs to their platforms with ever-more virulent denunciations, after noticing that earlier attacks on PM Wong and Singapore were not taken down by the authorities in China’s highly regulated internet.

NDP 2025: Majulah Singapura

Singapore turns 60: Padang and Marina Bay dazzle in milestone celebration

By Ng Keng Gene, The Straits Times, 10 Aug 2025

In a grand celebration of Singapore’s diamond jubilee, tens of thousands flocked to the heart of the city-state on Aug 9 to mark the Republic’s 60th year of independence.

To allow more to soak in the pomp and pageantry of the birthday bash, parade organisers extended the celebrations beyond the Padang to Marina Bay, where about 200,000 people gathered.

At the bay, some spots were so popular that Merlion Park and the area in front of One Fullerton were closed by 4.38pm – an hour before the National Day Parade (NDP) kicked off at 5.40pm.

The earlier sweltering heat gave way to a passing drizzle shortly before the parade got under way.

Kicking off the milestone parade, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong made a surprise appearance with his electric guitar in the pre-parade video Makin’ Our Way.

Another crowd pleaser came at 5.50pm, when seven naval divers leapt from an H225M medium-lift helicopter, descending about 1,830m into the bay – flippers first.

They were followed about five minutes later by seven Red Lions parachutists, whose much-awaited arrival at the Padang delighted the crowd.

Having the naval divers plop into the waters of Marina Bay enabled more people to get up close to the action outside the Padang, where the main parade took place.

Among the 27,000 spectators at the Padang were foreign guests such as Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi, who were seated close to Singapore’s Cabinet ministers in the VIP stand to witness the special event.

Besides the customary 21-gun salute for President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, spectators at the bay were also treated to a maritime vessel display, four water floats, a live performance by singer Benjamin Kheng on a floating stage, as well as vibrant light projections on The Fullerton Hotel and UOB Plaza.

NDP 2025, which involved about 6,000 participants across the pre-parade, parade and ceremony, mobile column and show segments, offered notable firsts.

For the first time in parade history, the parade and ceremony segment featured a Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) guard-of-honour contingent, following public feedback.

It will be a permanent fixture of the guard-of-honour contingents in the years to come, joining four from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and one from the Singapore Police Force.

The Singapore Armed Forces Volunteer Corps, to commemorate its 10th anniversary, also fielded a full contingent at the parade for the first time.

Eyes were turned skywards and necks craned as the Republic of Singapore Air Force put on eight aerial displays over the course of the night.

It began with the traditional State Flag fly-past. Later, fighter jet pilots pulled off a gravity-defying “bomb burst” manoeuvre, where the planes soared upwards before speeding off in various directions in a salute to the nation.

Integrating aerial fly-pasts into the mobile column had never been done until NDP 2025, where 22 aircraft flew over the Padang in four formations in a display of the RSAF’s aerial prowess.

While the mobile column demonstrated the Republic’s military might, some of the parade’s most poignant moments came in its final segment, beginning when Lieutenant-Colonel (NS) Alex Chan appeared in a Leopard 2SG main battle tank with his 10-year-old son Keith.

The crowd then broke into cheers when some SAF and Home Team veterans were introduced – in a nod to the shared commitment to defence across generations.

Among them were 95-year-old retired Second Warrant Officer Booi Seow Kiat, who sailed on RSS Panglima, the Republic of Singapore Navy’s first ship, and retired Senior Warrant Officer 1 Jimmy Tan, 66, who responded to the Hotel New World collapse in 1986 that killed 33.

It was on this note that the show segment kicked off, with singer-songwriter Charlie Lim and singer Kit Chan taking the stage to perform the parade’s theme song Here We Are.

As with most NDP shows, the artiste line-up was a mix of experienced hands and young talent.

Making its first appearance since NDP 2009 was local indie band Electrico, which performed that year’s parade theme song What Do You See.

Also returning to the show after a hiatus was Dick Lee, who last performed at NDP 2020, when an evening indoor concert was held in lieu of the usual outdoor show owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hoisted up in a basket attached to a floating balloon, he sang We Will Get There – the first National Day song he wrote, which was performed at the 2002 parade.

Representing a younger generation of artistes was singer-songwriter Linying, who performed original composition I Will Walk With You, while songstress Heema Izzati sang Lim’s Room At The Table.

Some of the night’s loudest cheers were reserved for Aldrich Jai Kishen, 31, one of five Singaporeans whose stories were told in a film screened in segments between the show’s four acts.

The film told of how Jai – a youth worker at Boys’ Town, where he was a resident – discovered a passion for drumming while in his teens that helped him to overcome a rough childhood.

Jai took to the stage for the show’s final act after the film concluded, performing an upbeat remix of Linying’s NDP 2021 theme song The Road Ahead, alongside Electrico vocalist Dave Tan.

In a Facebook post on Aug 9, President Tharman hailed Jai and others involved in the parade, saying “we have heroes all around the island”.

He cited Amelia Tan, nine, who was born with a rare condition resulting in her having speech and hearing difficulty. She did the sign language interpretation of the National Pledge towards the parade’s end.

“Such calm and composure, despite it being her first signing in public,” he said.

“As this year’s NDP song says, every voice is a story,” added the President. “We can all be heroes. Heroes in our own ways, in the story we write together.”

PM Wong said in a separate Facebook post that the parade was “a proud celebration of how far we’ve come – and a heartfelt tribute to the generations who built our nation”.

“As we mark SG60, we honour our past and look ahead to a new chapter. Our solidarity, resilience and unity will stand us in good stead for the road ahead,” he said.

“The best of our journey is yet to come.”

Rounding off the show was Kit Chan, who returned to the NDP stage for the first time since 2015 to belt out Home, the classic that she first performed at NDP 1998.

In a dazzling finale to NDP 2025, its theme – Majulah Singapura – were the last words sang as a kaleidoscope of fireworks illuminated the night sky at the close of the National Anthem.

Before long, rain fell over the Padang again, as President Tharman greeted performers prior to leaving the parade grounds.

Referring to the return of the drizzle as “showers of blessing”, show host Joakim Gomez said: “As we close this chapter to SG60, let’s move on into the next 60 years together. Relax – we will get there.”

Changi Airport Terminal 5 breaks ground: PM Lawrence Wong hails bold move, says Singapore must stay connected to the world

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong breaks ground on Changi Airport T5 on 14 May 2025; all SIA, Scoot flights to move there when it opens

By Vanessa Paige Chelvan, The Straits Times, 15 May 2025

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has broken ground on Changi Airport Terminal 5 (T5), an expansion project more than a decade in the making that will position the airport to ride an expected surge in air travel within the Asia-Pacific and beyond.

With the May 14 ground-breaking, work on the mega terminal has begun, following delays owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

National carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) and its budget arm Scoot will consolidate their operations under one roof at T5 when the terminal opens in the mid-2030s, said operator Changi Airport Group (CAG).

The airlines now operate across Terminals 1, 2 and 3, and SIA Group said the consolidation at T5 will provide space for its future growth and improve “operational synergies”.

There will be room at T5 and other terminals for other carriers to expand their operations, CAG added.

When asked about the other airlines that could operate from T5, CAG said it was too early to tell, as flight operations are dynamic and can change over the next decade.

Designed to handle about 50 million passengers a year, T5 will effectively double the size of Changi Airport and allow it to handle 140 million passengers yearly – boosting its current capacity of 90 million by more than 55 per cent.

Passenger traffic in the Asia-Pacific – already the world’s largest air travel market, taking about a third of the global share – is projected to double in the 2040s.

CAG said the extra capacity at T5 will enable Singapore to take advantage of this growth.

While prize-winning Changi Airport is a source of pride for many Singaporeans, PM Wong said Singapore can never be complacent about its achievements and “cannot presume that our success can continue just on its own”.

Amid sharpening competition from other airports and an uncertain global economy, the Prime Minister said Singapore must continue to work hard and remain connected to the world.

Hence, it is making a “bold move” with T5’s development to ensure Singapore’s air hub stays competitive.

At present, Changi Airport is linked to more than 170 cities. With T5, the airport will be able to reach its target of more than 200 city links by the mid-2030s, said PM Wong.

Construction on T5 will intensify in the next few years and peak around 2029, said Mr Ong Chee Chiau, CAG’s managing director for Changi East.

Works completed so far include a new runway, the airport’s third; an underpass for vehicular traffic; and tunnels for baggage and automated people-mover systems similar to the Skytrain.

With three runways operational by the time T5 opens, a second control tower will be built to manage air traffic, Mr Ong said.

T5 is located within the 1,080ha Changi East development, which is almost as big as the land area of today’s Changi Airport, he added.

In a first for the airport, T5 will house a ground transport centre, bringing together the Thomson-East Coast and Cross Island MRT lines, buses, taxis and other transport services.

State-of-the-art systems

T5 will have overlapping curved roofs with varying heights, in a nod to “Singapore’s unique blend of nature and city”, said CAG.

It will also have natural light and landscaping, giving the terminal “the familiar cosy yet uplifting feel that Changi is known for”.

Besides its facade and interior, the mega terminal will have state-of-the-art systems, and will leverage technology and automation to improve efficiency and passenger experience.

Plans include baggage robots that can operate in poor weather conditions, as well as video analytics and artificial intelligence tools that can track aircraft turnarounds to predict potential delays. A turnaround refers to the time between the arrival of an aircraft and its next departure.

These technologies are being tested now to prepare for their roll-out when T5 opens, said CAG.

To make it easier for passengers to move around, three automated people-mover systems as well as travelators will reduce walking distances.

There will be two people-mover systems within T5 that can connect departing passengers to their gates and arriving passengers to two arrival immigration halls. A third people-mover system will link T5 to T2, facilitating passenger transfers to other terminals.

“Most passengers arriving in Singapore will still be able to hop onto a taxi or the MRT within 30 minutes after leaving the aircraft,” said CAG chief executive Yam Kum Weng.

Meanwhile, transfer passengers at T5 can expect to connect to another flight in less than an hour. “Faster than Changi today,” Mr Yam added.

Passengers departing from T5 will undergo security checks near their boarding gates at the multiple security screening points for each cluster of gates.

This means more flexibility for the airport operator, as it can choose to open or close a particular cluster of gates according to demand, Mr Ong said.

T5 will be powered by more clean energy to reduce the airport’s carbon footprint. Its rooftop solar system – one of Singapore’s largest – will have the potential to generate enough energy to power up to 20,000 four-room Housing Board flats for a year.

It will also be ready to support viable alternative jet fuels, including sustainable aviation fuels.

From 2025, all new light vehicles, forklifts and tractors on the airside will be electric, and T5 will be able to support a fully electric airside fleet, CAG said. The airside is the part of the airport beyond passport control, where aircraft operate.

3 takeaways from Singapore leaders’ blockbuster foreign policy speeches

Major speeches by PM Lawrence Wong and SM Lee Hsien Loong offer a clear-eyed view on global transition and commitment to multilateralism, and link political stability to diplomatic strength.

By Bhavan Jaipragas, The Straits Times, 19 Apr 2025

If this were a routine April – not the tense run-up to what could be a bruising general election – the back-to-back heavyweight foreign policy speeches from Singapore’s top two political leaders would still have those who watch the Republic closely sitting up and taking notice.

Singapore’s friends and partners near and far are surely watching for clues about how the long-time stewards of this city-state – resource-poor and smaller than New York City – intend to navigate the accelerating decline of the world order under which it has risen to become one of the world’s wealthiest, most stable societies with the ability to underwrite its own defence.

For that purpose, the speeches – first by Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a dialogue with union leaders on April 14, and then by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong at the S. Rajaratnam Lecture on April 16 – offer, between them, as complete a picture as practicable to a public audience on the ruling PAP’s view of geopolitics and its foreign policy approach.

Both addresses, along with Mr Wong’s speech at the April 17 PAP manifesto launch – which also touched on the state of the world – are meaty enough to be studied from various angles.

For me, three important observations stand out.

Govt’s clear-eyed perspective

First, it is quite clear that Singapore’s leadership rejects a simplistic reading of the global landscape. Despite Washington’s current erraticity under President Donald Trump – with sweeping tariffs announced then suspended, threats of sectoral tariffs, and adamance that America will no longer be the world’s policeman – the Singapore Government does not view this as a neat pendulum swing of power.

My interpretation of Mr Wong and Mr Lee’s remarks is unambiguous: the establishment firmly rejects the notion that the crumbling of the US-led global rules-based order automatically crowns China as the new leader, or that we can expect a comfortable multipolar balance, with China and other powers harmoniously filling the vacuum.

This stands in contrast to certain domestic voices that have begun flirting with a more optimistic view – that Singapore and other Asian nations might actually benefit from this geopolitical disarray, that there is some inherently benign quality to what they claim is an organised multipolar order taking shape.

The perspective championed by countries like India, particularly through its erudite Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, who has voiced considerable optimism about a new multipolar world order – arguing that “the virtues of the old world order are exaggerated” – has gained notable traction here in Singapore.

Yet what works for a middle power like India cannot be transplanted to Singapore’s context. For a small trade-reliant nation thoroughly integrated into the world economy – and critically dependent on both China and the US – adopting such a view borders on the foolhardy.

Mr Lee’s speech crystallises this reality.

Even as America retreats from its global policeman role, there remains firm bipartisan consensus among its political elite that China represents a “pacing challenge”.

Consequently, American policymakers “are trying very hard to stay ahead of China and to prevent China from overtaking them”. This intensifying great-power competition will inevitably inflict collateral damage on trade-reliant countries like Singapore.

The speeches offer no comforting illusions that whatever emerges from this messy transition will necessarily benefit us.

The Prime Minister’s assessment is sobering in its clarity: Mr Wong noted that “nobody can tell” what world order we are transitioning towards, even though we know that transition is under way.

Indeed, even as we witness daily evidence of transformation through market turbulence and policy pronouncements from Washington – met with counter-responses from other capitals – there remains simply too much uncertainty. We cannot predict global conditions one month from now, let alone a year ahead or by the end of Mr Trump’s term in January 2029.

Mr Wong put it like this: “America is stepping back from its traditional role as the guarantor of order and the world’s policeman. But neither China nor any other country is willing – or able to – fill the vacuum.”

He added: “So nations are turning inward, prioritising their own narrow interests. The once-rising tide of global cooperation that defined the past decades is giving way to one of growing competition and distrust. And as a result, the world is becoming more fragmented and disorderly.”

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?

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's interview with Singapore media ahead of the leadership transition

Bringing everyone along: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong reflects on 20 years at the helm

As PM Lee Hsien Loong prepares to step down from his post on 15 May 2024 he shares his views on Singapore, the world and the road ahead.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong thanks Singaporeans for what country achieved over last 20 years

People live in peace and contentment today due to efforts of citizens, he says

‘I tried to bring everybody to run with me. And I think we did have some success’: PM Lee

By Tham Yuen-C, Senior Political Correspondent, The Straits Times, 10 May 2024

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he has no regrets after leading the country for 20 years, having done what he set out to do with Singaporeans.

Singapore is a shining little red dot today, where people live in peace and contentment, and this is due to the effort of its citizens, he added.

As he prepares to step down from leading the country, PM Lee has this message for the people: “We’ve achieved much together... we are proud to be Singaporeans, and I am comforted by that. This is the result of everyone’s hard work, and I thank you for your effort and support.”

He will pass the baton to Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on May 15.

In wide-ranging interviews in English and Chinese looking back at his years in office, a relaxed and smiling PM Lee said he was ready to hand over to a new leader to take Singapore forward.

“We have been preparing this for a very long time,” he said at the interviews held at the Istana on April 24 and 26.

Noting that there have already been two successful leadership transitions, he expressed confidence that the third will be as smooth and peaceful.

PM Lee, a former brigadier-general who entered politics in 1984 and was appointed minister of state soon after, will stay on as senior minister in the new Cabinet after the handover.

Asked if he would deal with tricky issues as founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew did after stepping down, or travel the world like second prime minister Goh Chok Tong did to cement friendships, PM Lee said: “To the extent that I have people who know me and whom I can talk to, I will certainly make use of that and engage them. Specific, sensitive policy, that is up to the prime minister to decide.”

He added: “If he arrows me to do it, I will take the arrow.”

Whatever his role in the new team, he will only be in a supporting role, PM Lee stressed.

He said he told his successor: “I will be here to do my best to help you to succeed. You have to be your own person. You have to make the decisions.

“You have to lead in your own way, persuade people in your own way.

“I will give you the benefit of my experience and my views. But you have to set the tone, you have to carry the decisions.”

The Singapore that PM Lee and his team inherited in 2004 had just emerged from the Asian financial crisis and the severe acute respiratory syndrome, or Sars, outbreak.

At his inauguration speech on Aug 12, 2004, he had told Singaporeans: “Work with me to make Singapore a home we love, a community we belong to, and a country we are proud to call our own.”

In the years since, the country has stayed open amid the backlash against globalisation, and moved to provide stronger social safety nets. Gross domestic product per capita more than doubled from $46,664 in 2004 to $113,779 in 2023.

At the same time, income gaps widened, and Singapore moved towards redistribution programmes and more collective responsibility.

ComCare was launched in 2005 to bring support schemes together, and Workfare in 2007 to top up the wages of lower-income workers. The Progressive Wage Model followed in 2012 to uplift the wages of those at the bottom. MediShield Life and CareShield Life were then introduced to provide financial assurance for those who need long-term care.

Pointing to these policies, PM Lee said: “These are all things which we have done, all within the last 20 years. It is very considerable.

“Of course, people will always say ‘please do more’, and we will keep on improving.”

But the Singaporean attitude should remain one of working hard and being prudent, and if things turn out well and Singapore has a good year, everybody can enjoy the upside, he said.

This upside, too, should not be just a distribution – “where you spend the money and it is gone” – but something society feels addresses real needs and deserves support.

Under PM Lee, the Government also introduced generational safety nets, in the form of the Pioneer Generation and Merdeka Generation packages for Singaporeans now in their 60s and older.

A visibly emotional PM Lee said: “They brought us here. If they had not stood and fought at the critical moment, and then slogged and built their whole lives to take Singapore forward, saved and enabled the next generation to move higher and further than they did, we would not be here today.”

Now that the Republic has accumulated some buffer, this is a way to thank and honour those generations, with a gesture that will help them in their golden years, he said.

With 20 more years of nation-building, the Singapore identity has become stronger, said PM Lee. “It is 20 more years of ups and downs, and trials and tribulations, and joys and sorrows.”

This identity was forged through crises, from the global financial crisis which hit in 2008 to the Covid-19 pandemic.

From time to time, Singapore has also had to work through prickly issues like the repeal of Section 377A of the Penal Code in 2022, which penalised sex between men, and allowing public sector nurses to wear the tudung to work.

These experiences enabled Singaporeans to understand one another better, accept one another’s differences, and work out practical arrangements, said PM Lee.

“But to say after this, we can fly solo – the Government does not need to watch, can take hands off the steering wheel or the controls, and it will look after itself – I do not think so. Never,” he added.

It is not possible because these issues will forever be sensitive, there have to be limits to discussions, and the Government needs to set the tone, he said.

“It is better for the Government to guide it, allow more discussions, allow freer exchange of views, and you can allow more liberal practices too. But I think we have to handle (sensitive issues) with very great care – always.”

This national identity will also always be subject to influences from the outside world, such as “wokeness”, religious norms, cultural norms, sexual norms and family norms.

Singapore will always be both part of a global humanity, and yet also a nation.

“I want to keep this Singapore nation cohesive, united, open, but not dissolved and just melted away. And that, for Singapore, for the long term, that is one of our key nation-building tasks,” said PM Lee.

While he will hand over his role as prime minister on May 15, there has been no announcement yet of when he will hand over the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) to his successor.

Observers expect that he will remain PAP’s secretary-general until at least November, when the party celebrates its 70th anniversary and holds internal elections. DPM Wong told The Economist in a May 6 interview that he would take over as secretary-general “in due course”, without stating a timeframe.

Over the years, the party has changed, said PM Lee: generationally with new leaders; in policies and how it pitches them; and also how it engages the people to get buy-in.

“We have changed a lot over the years, and it is for the better,” said PM Lee, who has been MP for Teck Ghee ward, now under Ang Mo Kio GRC, since he was first elected into Parliament in 1984.

What has remained constant is the PAP’s commitment to Singapore, and its determination to maintain high standards of integrity and competence, he said.

“Our intention to keep on providing a high-quality government for Singapore, that must always be there.

“And Singapore depends on that, because if the PAP did not do that, I think any other political party would be hard put to do the same thing,” he said. “It is a reality.”

Under his watch, the PAP was returned to power in four general elections – in May 2006, May 2011, September 2015 and July 2020.

PM Lee said each generation of leaders has had to govern in the way that worked best for the Singapore of that era.

“Mr Lee Kuan Yew governed in a certain way, it worked for his generation. It wrought miracles practically, but it was his generation, and him. Mr Goh Chok Tong did it his way for a younger generation, different from Mr Lee.

“And I have tried to do it my way, different from both Mr Lee and Mr Goh. If I tried to do it their way, either one, I think I would have failed,” said PM Lee.

Asked to assess his own performance, PM Lee gave his usual response that it would be up to others to judge.

But he became emotional as he thanked Singaporeans for having come on this journey with him. That is what he would cherish most about having served as Singapore’s third prime minister.

“I didn’t try to run faster than everybody else. I tried to bring everybody to run with me,” he said.

“And I think we did have some success.”