First Spy Chief of Independent Singapore, Tay Seow Huah

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 how his Penang-born father – 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.Simon Tay is the chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, a non-profit think tank. He is an associate professor of law at the National University of Singapore 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.What Simon Talked About 00:00 – The 1974 Laju hijacking and its significance02:03 – Tay Seow Huah’s legacy and role in Singapore’s security operations07:37 – Singapore’s strategic and diplomatic response to the Laju incident10:38 – Why Lee Kuan Yew appointed Tay to lead the Special Branch11:50 – Background on the Laju hijackers and geopolitical tensions in the 1970s16:39 – Insights from S. R. Nathan’s memoir17:38 – Why Tay did not accompany hijackers to Kuwait although he volunteered17:42– Challenges of writing about classified events and uncovering the past19:05 – Tay’s childhood in Malaya and educational achievements19:56 – Speculations about Tay’s post-university activities before joining civil service22:23 – Comparison between Tay and James Bond28:02 – How Simon’s relationship with his father changed after Tay’s heart attack30:26 – Tay’s declining health and early retirement from civil service32:19 – Tay’s struggles in his retirement years33:03 – Simon’s reflections on his grandmother’s strength and complexity35:13 – How Tay’s childhood hunger shaped his habits35:57 – Tay’s party trick38:09 – Simon on his public service journey43:45 – Why Simon’s wrote the book EnigmasTranscriptRead the transcript: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/podcast-tay-seow-huah-first-spy-chief-of-independent-singapore-simon-tay/Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore.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 Simon for coming on the show.The BiblioAsia Podcast by the National Library Singapore tells stories about Singapore history.