Overview
- Singapore formally declassified Dr Goh Keng Swee’s ‘Albatross File’ and launched a book at the National Library, with a public exhibition opening Dec 8.
- The documents and oral histories present Dr Goh as proposing secession to Tun Abdul Razak in mid‑July 1965, with events unfolding over about 25 days.
- The new book characterizes the break as a “bloodless coup” by Dr Goh and Razak, offering a detailed, step‑by‑step account of the rapid negotiations.
- Then law minister E. W. Barker secretly drafted three legal instruments for separation, including the Agreement to Separate and Singapore’s Proclamation of Independence.
- Lee Hsien Loong emphasized lessons on sovereignty and racial harmony, noted British warnings that shaped Kuala Lumpur’s calculus, and addressed debate over whether Singapore was expelled or reached a negotiated parting.