SINGAPORE \u2013 Founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew came closest to a nervous breakdown in the hours after announcing Singapore\u2019s separation from Malaysia on Aug 9, 1965, according to a newly released oral history interview with his wife, Madam Kwa Geok Choo. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe was upset after the thing (negotiations for separation) was over,\u201d the late Madam Kwa said in the interview, recorded between 1981 and 1982. \u201cI think where he had the nearest to a nervous breakdown was after it was over, after the press conference (on the afternoon of Aug 9) when we came back… Then he was very, very upset.\u201d<\/p>\n
The interview will be featured at <\/p>\n The Albatross File: Singapore\u2019s Independence Declassified,<\/p>\n <\/a> the capstone event for Singapore\u2019s 60 years of independence.<\/p>\n Jointly developed by the National Library Board (NLB) and the Ministry of Digital Development and Information, the permanent exhibition will open to the public from Dec 8 at the National Library Building in Victoria Street.<\/p>\n The showcase is based on the upcoming book, The Albatross File: Inside Separation, which draws on papers that former deputy prime minister Goh Keng Swee kept in a file he code-named \u201cAlbatross\u201d, alongside extensive oral history interviews with Singapore\u2019s founding leaders.\u00a0<\/p>\n The late Mr Lee, who had long believed in merger, had hoped for a looser federation rather than a complete break, even amid political tensions between the ruling parties of Singapore and Malaysia and the communal strains that led to the 1964 racial riots. <\/p>\n On Aug 7, 1965, after the separation agreement was already signed by the negotiating ministers at the home of Tun Abdul Razak, then Malaysia\u2019s deputy prime minister, Mr Lee drove to the residence of then Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman to explore whether some \u201clooser\u201d form of association might be acceptable. <\/p>\n He was told: \u201cThere is no other way now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Mr Lee did not know Dr Goh had not pressed Tun Razak for a looser federation, but had proposed a separation instead. He realised this only in 1994, when he read Dr Goh\u2019s oral history interview in preparation for his own 1998 memoirs, The Singapore Story. <\/p>\n Jointly developed by NLB and MDDI, the permanent exhibition will open to the public from Dec 8 at the National Library Building.<\/p>\n PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Up to the eve of the break from Malaysia on Aug 9, 1965, Singapore\u2019s founding leaders were divided on the split.<\/p>\n Mr S. Rajaratnam and Dr Toh Chin Chye opposed the idea and agreed only after the Tunku wrote a personal letter to Dr Toh, saying that he could not ensure peace if Singapore remained.<\/p>\n Dr Toh\u2019s reply to the Tunku, also being shared for the first time now, expressed his anguish. <\/p>\n \u201cIt has come as a blow to us that the peace and security of Malaysia can only be secured by the expulsion of Singapore from the Federation,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIf this is the price for peace in Malaya and Singapore, then we must accept it, however agonising our inner feelings may be.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Gene Tan, executive creative director of the exhibition, said Singapore\u2019s history was not a foregone conclusion.<\/p>\n \u201cIt could have gone so many ways… Right from the start, the plans kept changing, and a lot of factors were beyond the control of the protagonists,\u201d he said during a media preview on Nov 26. <\/p>\n \u201cAtlas\u201d features an interactive wall tracing the final months, days and hours leading up to the separation, complete with a \u201cspacetime clock\u201d that visualises the movements and decisions of key actors.<\/p>\n PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n The team behind the exhibition, which also created the SG60 <\/p>\n Heart&Soul Experience <\/p>\n <\/a>and the 2019 Bicentennial Experience, hopes visitors will \u201cfeel history\u201d \u2013 experiencing the anxieties, uncertainties and courage of Singapore\u2019s early leaders.<\/p>\n \u201cI like the calmness and the thought process that they went through each time they faced a very difficult situation,\u201d said Mr Tan, who is also NLB\u2019s chief librarian and chief innovation officer. \u201cIt\u2019s courage with intelligence and insight. It is, to me, such a potent combination.\u201d<\/p>\n The exhibition has four sections, catering to visitors who prefer different platforms.<\/p>\n \u201cRoom\u201d features a 22-minute film blending archival footage and oral history interviews with cinematic re-enactments of the events leading up to the separation. <\/p>\n \u201cRecords\u201d is where visitors can hear the voices of key players from their oral history interviews, and examine official documents and handwritten notes, including declassified Albatross File documents.<\/p>\n \u201cAtlas\u201d features an interactive wall tracing the final months, days and hours leading up to the separation, complete with a \u201cspacetime clock\u201d that visualises the movements and decisions of key actors.<\/p>\n \u201cChatBook\u201d allows visitors to converse with a generative AI-powered chat service, which draws its insights from the book and content from the National Library and the National Archives of Singapore.<\/p>\n PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n \u201cChatBook\u201d allows visitors to converse with a generative AI-powered chat service, which draws its insights from the book and content from the National Library and the National Archives of Singapore.<\/p>\n The exhibition is on at level 10 of the National Library Building from 10am to 9pm except the eves of Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year, when it will close at 5pm. It will be closed on public holidays. <\/p>\n Those keen to visit the exhibition can book their tickets online now at\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/picture><\/div>
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