Singapore’s survival, success never guaranteed but hard-won: PM Wong on Albatross File exhibition

SINGAPORE – Values such as clear-eyed leadership, courage, and an unwavering focus on our national interest must continue to guide Singapore, so that the country can continue to thrive, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

In a Facebook post about

The Albatross File: Singapore’s Independence Declassified exhibition

on Dec 10, PM Wong said: “Today, as we commemorate SG60, we stand tall and proud. Yet we should remember how easily things could have taken a very different turn.

“All this reaffirms a deeper truth: Singapore’s survival and success were never guaranteed. They were hard-won – through clear-eyed leadership, courage, and an unwavering focus on our national interest.”

The free exhibition is based on a collection of previously classified Cabinet papers and documents kept by then Finance Minister Goh Keng Swee from 1964, including handwritten notes about his negotiations with federal leaders to take Singapore out of Malaysia.

The Albatross File is also featured in a new book

The Albatross File: Inside Separation

which shows how an off-the-cuff remark by Dr Goh on July 15, 1965, set off a chain of moves that led to the proclamation, at 10am on Aug 9, that “Singapore shall be forever a sovereign democratic and independent nation”.

On the Separation, PM Wong noted in his Facebook post that after the 1964 race riots, it had become clear to leaders on both sides that the merger was not working. He added in the post: “Remarkably, the break was achieved peacefully, even amid the profound disagreements of the time.”

In photos accompanying his post, PM Wong can be seen with Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo exploring the interactive components of the exhibition.

He invited Singaporeans to visit the exhibition, with bookings available at

https://go.gov.sg/albatrosstickets

Albatross, which contained Cabinet papers, memorandums and Dr Goh’s handwritten notes of his discussions with Malaysian leaders in the months before separation, had until now largely been kept classified. A subset of the documents was exhibited in 2015 to commemorate the Republic’s 50th year of independence.