January 4, 2010
National Archives of Singapore
I had the opportunity to go on a field trip to the National Archives of Singapore (NAS) recently. I must say, it was an interesting experience. There is an odd kind of joy in seeing old documents get worked upon and finally, after all the hard, tedious work put in by the staff at the NAS, it emerges as a nice, readable document. It’s also a good place to keep track of Singapore’s heritage and history. Things like blueprints of the city, old Mediacorp shows, or journal entries by people living during the war.
Who are they, and what do they do?
The National Archives of Singapore was established in 1968, by an act of Parliament. Basically, the NAS is an archiving company (duh!), that archives anything that they find important to Singapore’s history or heritage, in their words, “the collective memory of our nation”. This helps us learn about our past, and thus sympathise with past events.
The NAS also is the “custodian of the corporate memory of the government”. This means they are the ones who manage public records and provides advice to government agencies for records management. I guess this isn’t surprising, given that they were established by the National Heritage Board.
What services do they provide?
The NAS provides services such as:
- Record management and preservation
- Providing access to the public
- Sharing knowledge with the public
- Archives conservation services
