New Book Reveals Secret Talks Behind Singapore's Path to Independence

New book reveals secret talks behind Singapore's path to independence

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s separation from Malaysia in August 1965 was the result of a “bloodless coup” orchestrated by then Finance Minister Goh Keng Swee and then Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak, over just 25 days.

New book sheds light on Singapore’s secret negotiations for independence

SINGAPORE – Singapore’s separation from Malaysia in August 1965 was the result of a “bloodless coup” orchestrated by then Finance Minister Goh Keng Swee and then Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak, over just 25 days. A new book, The Albatross File: Inside Separation, 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…

Singapore launches book on Malaysia separation with declassified files

‘The Albatross File: Inside Separation’ sheds light on the negotiations leading up to Singapore’s break from Malaysia.

Albatross File declassified: Lee Hsien Loong reflects on Singapore’s separation from Malaysia

Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong launched The Albatross File exhibition and book on 7 December 2025, presenting it as a comprehensive and candid account of the lead-up to Singapore’s separation from Malaysia in 1965. Speaking at the National Library, Lee said the release of the documents, compiled by former Deputy Prime Minister Goh Keng Swee, served to “bring together and put on the public record a full documented account of this seminal event i…

Singapore's independence 'hardly foreordained': Albatross File shows separation from Malaysia suggested by Goh Keng Swee, says SM Lee

The Albatross File — created, named and kept by Singapore's first Defence Minister Dr Goh Keng Swee — sheds new and never before published insights on the story of Singapore's separation from Malaysia on Aug 9, 1965.It contains cabinet papers, conversation records and handwritten notes detailing vividly, a "dramatic, blow-by-blow record" of how Singapore came to separate from Malaysia. Speaking...