The Oral History Centre (OHC) released 124 interviews in 2023.

Of these 124 interviews, 97 were conducted in English, 21 were conducted in Mandarin, 5 were conducted in Malay, and 1 was conducted in Tamil.

32 interviews came from our Community-Driven Oral History Project, making it the largest project from our new releases. Another 51 interviews came from the arts, sciences, political history, and the public service sector.

The year saw the release of numerous interviews that were donated to the Oral History Centre, notably:
23 interviews from Pandemics and Major Epidemics in Singapore, 1819-2021 from Dr. Loh Kah Seng,
9 interviews from the Yale-NUS College Collection from Dr. Jaime Koh, and
9 interviews from the Centre for Liveable Cities Collection from various students at Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD).

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Many interviews with notable individuals were released in 2023, including Tan Kheng Hua, Benson Puah, Sylvia McCully, and prof. Paul Tambyah. Here are some quotes from the interviews:

"So my mother said, you have to choose because we can't afford both. You decide whether you want to do piano lessons or you want to do ballet. So I figured piano would involve my mother having to buy a piano. And that was going to be expensive. " - Sylvia McCully

"There was one particular session, Kuo Pao Kun was there. And he was really giving it to me about our lack of cultural policy, that what we're building didn't serve the needs of our artists. And he went on. And quite rightly so. So I remember looking at him, and I said, “Pao Kun, I can't change the decisions. I can't undo the decisions made. If I walk you outside, this complex is being built. Would you work with me to help make it work? Because this is now what I have, I'm charged with, and I want to make it work. My heart is with the local community. Will you help?” I guess it took him by surprise as well. He did pause, and he softened." - Benson Puah

"Where is it that you can make the greatest contribution to the law? And he says, the one thing that every lawyer must know, whether you're a corporate lawyer, you're a conveniencing lawyer, or you're a litigator, the one thing every lawyer must know is evidence. Because at the end of the day, if there's anything that's not agreed, any problems, it will end up in a case in court. And to be able to go to court, you must know the rules of evidence." - Jeffrey Chan

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Click to listen to extracts from our oral history collection.