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About the Oral History Centre (OHC)
OHC was established in 1979 to preserve the history of Singapore through the recording of collective memories, which is done through interviews. Our interviews are made available for public consultation, subject to interviewees’ agreement. We also promote the use of oral history through workshops, exhibitions and publications.
Oral History Collection
1. What does your collection cover?
The oral history projects cover a wide range of “subjects” ranging from political history, Japanese Occupation, vanishing trades, performing arts, broadcasting to medical services in Singapore. However, as majority of the interviews took the form of “life-history” approach, while an interviewee may have focused on one or two specific subjects, in reality, each interview can cover many more subjects. It is therefore misleading to expect exact matching of interviews by subjects. We have to date collected stories of over 3,000 people, spanning more than 16,500 hours of interviews. Please click here to see the list of our projects.
Oral history interviews are a useful research resource, but it needs to be validated and cross-checked with other sources of information.
Accessing the Materials
2. How many interviews are accessible?
The OHC does not decide which recordings are released to researchers. Instead, it has to honour interview agreements signed between the interviewer and the interviewee pertaining to access conditions as he or she has stipulated.
Currently, 86.2% of all the interviews conducted by OHC are available online. The remaining 13.8% are not due to release in accordance with agreement signed. Furthermore, there are a few interviews that remained restricted access due to following two situations:
(1) Interview Agreement Unsigned
The interviewees declined to sign interview agreement after the interview was completed and some of them had passed on. As such, the OHC is not in a position to assume that our interviewees will allow the recordings to be released.
(2) Conditions Stipulated by Interviewees in the Agreement
Some of our interviewees have stipulated that their recordings should not be released at all and therefore OHC cannot highlight the availability of the recordings. These interviewees have specifically asked that the embargo remain permanent until an individual has passed away, after they passed on or for other reasons.
3. How can I access the records?
Currently, due to bandwidth, only selected audio, video clips and transcripts are available on-line. To listen or view full recording, you would need to visit the Archives Reading Room at the National Archives of Singapore (NAS) at 1 Canning Rise, Singapore 179868 (Tel: 6332 7909).
Our opening hours:
Mondays to Fridays 9am - 5.30pm
Saturdays 9am - 1.30pm
Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays.
To search for other materials from NAS, visit the online portal www.a2o.com.sg
4. Are all oral history transcripts available online and in various languages?
Transcribing is a time consuming process and due to limited resources, on average, each recorded hour could take up to 12 hours to transcribe. OHC only selectively transcribes the interviews. Those available online are mainly in English and Chinese text.
5. Can I read and print the transcripts online?
Reading of the transcripts is free.
You can request to make a copy of an open access interview at the Archives Reading Room at the cost of 30 cents per (A4 size) page for reproduction. You are allowed to copy up to 25% of an interview. You may also order the transcripts online and they can be mailed to you with an additional postage fee. The fee is charged on the basis of cost recovery and will be used to support the oral history programme, including preserving the collection in a 24-hour environmentally controlled repository.
Please note that the oral history recording is in verbatim, majority of the transcripts are not edited. If you notice any discrepancies, we welcome your feedback to Manager, OHC Documentation at CHUNG_Lai_Beng@nhb.gov.sg.
6. What are the copyright issues involved in the use of oral history materials?
Oral history interviews termed “open access” are available to researchers/members of public for consultation in the Archives Reading Room. You are allowed to copy up to 25% of the entire interview. If you wish to copy more than 25% of the interview (audio, video or transcript), please write to OHC.
Consultation of interviews termed “restricted access” may require written permission from the interviewee, depending on the degree of access (for both listening and reproduction) conditions set by the interviewee.
Using the Materials
7. What are the costs involved?
Two types of fees apply: reproduction fees and archival and administrative fees . For oral history interviews, the reproduction/ archival and administrative fee is as follows:
- Reproduction fees
| Formats |
Without
GST |
| Hard
Copy Transcript |
S$0.30
per A4 page |
CD-R (96kbps)
Straight transfer per hour**
Straight transfer per half an hour**
Per extract 0-15 min***
Per extract 16-30 min*** |
S$40
S$29
S$26
S$29
|
| Video DVD |
S$200 |
** Reproduction is from straight transfer of oral history interviews recorded in either digital or analogue format. Each file of digital recording is up to 1 hr while a reel of analogue recording is up to 1/2 hr.
- For purchase of 1 hr of recording, you can request for either 1 digital file or 2 reels of recording
- For purchase of 1/2 hr of recording, you can request for either 1 reel or a 30 minute recording from digital file (running from 0: 01- 30:00 min. or 30:00 min. till end of the file).
*** Reproduction is based on selected extract of oral history interviews recorded in either digital or analogue format.
- Archival and Administrative Fees
Archival and Administrative Fees may be levied on the use of oral history materials depending on the purpose of research. Please enquire at the Archives Reading Room counter if you are not sure about the fees to pay.
- Type 1
A fee of S$50 (exclusive of GST) per interview, per usage will be levied for using archival materials for educational and cultural activities, for informational and illustrative purposes in academic publications, newsletters and public service broadcast programmes.
- Type 2
A fee of S$500 (exclusive of GST) per interview, per usage will be levied for using archival materials for product development and commercial use, for example all forms of merchandising, non-public service broadcast programmes and non-academic publications.
*All prices listed above are subjected to periodic reviews.
Download order form in DJVU format
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8. How should I acknowledge the source?
All materials used should be acknowledged as "Oral History Centre, National Archives of Singapore".
9. Can I deposit my interview recordings with OHC?
OHC also acquires recordings from both local and overseas individuals/organisations to enhance the collection. If you have any oral history (interview) recordings which reflect and capture aspects of Singapore’s history, you may wish to deposit them with our Centre. Before accepting the deposit, we will assess the materials based on the content, access condition, physical condition and format of the materials.
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