Coming in March

Singapore's time zone has been changed at least seven times since 1905, including during the Japanese Occupation when it was synchronised to Tokyo time. Arts librarian Kenneth Tay explains the historical context for the time zone changes, the origins of the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) system, and ways to measure time, including a rare atomic clock in a local laboratory.

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What Kenneth Talked About

About the Guest

Kenneth Tay is a librarian with the Arts and General Reference team at the National Library Singapore. He is interested in the histories of global systems such as the internet, logistics and time zones, and where Singapore figures in them.

Resources

Kenneth Tay, “Daylight Robbery: Singapore’s Shifting Time Zones,” BiblioAsia 21, no.3 (October–December 2025).

Credits

This episode of BiblioAsia Podcast was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Nookcha Films. The background music "Di Tanjong Katong" was composed by Ahmad Patek and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Kenneth for coming on the show.

About the Podcast

The BiblioAsia Podcast by the National Library Singapore tells stories about Singapore history.

Transcript