Oral history materials in Singapore

Abstract

The value of oral history as a means of filling the gaps in written records had been recognised and accepted. In the context of Southeast Asia it is of particular significance, as it is unlikely that many Southeast Asians will write their memoirs , biographies or leave papers behind in such a way that scholars will have access to them in future . Oral history is a tape recording of reminicenses about which the narrator can speak from first- hand knowledge . Through pre-planned interviews, the information is captured in question and answer form by oral interviews. Oral history as defined above is under taken by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. In this paper, I will briefly describe the oral history programme of the Institute . In addition, I will attempt to cover the materials which could very broadly fall within the category of oral history. Although no programme of interviews for oral history was pre- planned, there were in Broadcasting Department collections of tape s which could broadly be considered oral history.