The National Archives of Singapore (NAS) was established in 1968 with the passing of the National Archives & Records Centre Act in 1967. Subsequently, in November 1979, the Oral History Unit (OHU) was established as part of the National Archives & Records Centre (NARC). A new legislation was enacted to provide NARC with the dual mandate of acquiring both public and private records as well as oral history accounts. In December 1981, the NARC and OHU merged into one department as Archives and Oral History Department (AOHD). In 1985, the Oral History Unit was separated from Archives & Oral History Department and reorganised as the Oral History Department. In August 1993, the department became part of NAS when National Heritage Board was set up and renamed the Oral History Centre (OHC). In April 2002, the OHC merged with Historic Sites and Preservation of Monuments Board to form Heritage Development Services while NAS remained as a separate entity. In September 2003, OHC returned to join NAS.
The Oral History Centre records, documents, preserves and disseminates information on the history of Singapore through the collective memory of people. For the past 27 years, the OHC has collected a total of 15,600 hours of recording and interviewed more than 3,000 people for the various projects such as: Pioneer of Singapore, Political Development of Singapore, 1945 -1975, Japanese Occupation of Singapore, Senior Civil Servant, 1945-1980.
