First Spy Chief of Independent Singapore, Tay Seow Huah
Coming in July
Tay Seow Huah, then Permanent Secretary for the Home Affairs Ministry, helmed Singapore’s response to the 1974 Laju hijacking incident. This was when four terrorists tried (but failed) to destroy Shell’s oil infrastructure on Pulau Bukom Besar and subsequently took five hostages. Little is known about the enigmatic spy chief, who was the founding Director of the Security and Intelligence Division. Simon Tay, lawyer, academic and winner of the 2010 Singapore Literature Prize, tells us about how his father – a Penang-born boy who lived through WWII, the Malayan Emergency and the political tumult of the 1960s – came to play a giant role serving a newly independent Singapore.
Listen to the Full Episode
Available on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, melisten.
Subscribe to get notified when the next episode drops.
What Simon Talked About
About the Guest
Simon Tay is chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, a non-profit think tank. He is a National University of Singapore associate law professor and a former Nominated Member of Parliament. In 1995, Simon was named a Singapore Young Artist, and his novel City of Small Blessings won the Singapore Literature Prize in 2010. In 2021, he received the S.E.A. Write Award, a regional award given to leading ASEAN poets and writers.
Resources
Simon Tay, Enigmas: Tay Seow Huah, My Father, Singapore's Pioneer Spy Chief (Singapore: Landmark Books, 2024). (From National Library Singapore, call no. RSING 327.12092 TAY)
S.R. Nathan, An Unexpected Journey: Path to the Presidency (Singapore: Editions Didier Millet, 2011). (From National Library Singapore, call no. RSING 959.5705092 NAT)
Credits
This episode of BiblioAsia+ 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 Osman Ahmad and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Simon for coming on the show.
About the Podcast
BiblioAsia+ is a podcast about Singapore history by the National Library of Singapore.