National Archives of Singapore NAS

History and Founding

The National Archives of Singapore (NAS) traces its origins to 1938, when the post of Archivist was created within the Raffles Museum and Library to collect and preserve colonial historical records. The NAS was formally established as an independent institution in 1968 under the National Archives and Records Centre Act. In 1993, it merged with the Oral History Department and was brought under the National Heritage Board. Since November 2012, the NAS has operated under the National Library Board (NLB).

The NAS is housed in the former Anglo-Chinese School administrative block at 1 Canning Rise, a conserved Art Deco building that became its home in 1997. A second site, the Former Ford Factory, was acquired in 2005; it was the location of the British surrender to Japanese forces during World War II and now houses the Memories at Old Ford Factory interpretive centre.

Collections and Holdings

The NAS holds more than 5.76 million file records from public agencies, 6 million photographs, slides, and negatives, 245,000 maps and building plans, 73,000 hours of audio-visual recordings, 17,000 hours of oral history recordings, and 5,800 posters. The collections date as far back as 1800, predating the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819.

Journalism and Media Materials

The Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) Collection, deposited with the NAS in 2000, comprises nearly one million press negatives from Singapore's largest newspaper publisher, covering 1922 to 1996. These materials provide a major photojournalistic record of Singapore's modern history. The NAS also holds extensive records from the former Ministry of Information, Culture and the Arts. The NewspaperSG resource, accessible through the NLB, provides searchable digital access to historical Singapore and Malayan newspapers from 1831.

Access and Usage

The Archives Reading Room operates Monday to Friday, 10:00–18:30, by appointment. Digitized collections are accessible through the Archives Online portal at nas.gov.sg/archivesonline. The NAS is a member of the Southeast Asian Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives (SARBICA).