I tabled a question to the Minister for Digital Development and Information in Parliament on 26 September 2025, asking if official records and school textbooks would be updated following the release of new documents about Singapore’s separation from Malaysia. I was referring at the time to the declassified British and Australian documents cited in the recent CNA documentary, “Separation: Declassified – 100 Days That Created a Nation.”
The Minister, Mrs Josephine Teo, replied that the documents were “not new” and have been available to scholars for close to 35 years and that “keen students of history have access to these materials and can form their own nuanced views.”
However, the recent launch of the book, “The Albatross File: Inside Separation,” which draws on previously classified papers and interviews, highlights significant revelations—such as then-Finance Minister Dr Goh Keng Swee’s role in proposing Singapore’s separation from Malaysia to then-Deputy Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak at a meeting in July 1965.
My question remains relevant because we must ensure our national narrative evolves with new insights, allowing current and future generations to gain a more nuanced understanding of this pivotal moment in our history. We need to continuously seek the fullest picture of our past. I encourage all Singaporeans to visit the new permanent exhibition at the National Library Building to learn more.
Here is my full Parliamentary question and the Minister’s answer:
26 September 2025
Updating Official Records and School Textbooks in Light of Declassified Singapore Independence Documents
Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Digital Development and Information (a) whether historical accounts in official records and school textbooks will be updated in light of recently declassified documents on Singapore’s independence from Malaysia; (b) if so, which are the historical accounts; (c) how will the Government ensure a more nuanced understanding of this period in the national narrative; and (d) whether a timeline for these updates can be provided.
Mrs Josephine Teo: The Member is likely referring to declassified documents cited in a recent CNA documentary, “Separation: Declassified – 100 Days That Created a Nation”.
It is unclear what updates to historical accounts in official records and textbooks Mr Giam is seeking. The declassified materials he refers to are not new. The British and Australian documents were first disclosed in the early 1990s and have been available to scholars, journalists and others for close to 35 years now. Professor Albert Lau relied on these documents as well other source material in his definitive account of Separation, “A Moment Of Anguish: Singapore in Malaysia and the Politics of Disengagement”, which first appeared in 1998.
That same year, the first volume of founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s memoir appeared, The Singapore Story. In this memoir, Mr Lee told a gripping account of the events leading up to Singapore’s Independence. Beside the British, Australian and New Zealand documents that had already been declassified by then, Mr Lee relied on the recollections of his chief colleagues involved in the negotiations with Malaysia, in particular, Dr Goh Keng Swee and Mr E W Barker, his own oral history and contemporaneous notes.
The very nature of historical accounts means that there are differing points of view. For example, Mr E W Barker had called Singapore’s Independence a “negotiated separation”. Keen students of history have access to these materials and can form their own nuanced views.
