Frequently Asked Questions

NewspaperSG is a National Library Singapore resource. It is an online archive of Singapore newspapers. You can search our digital archive of newspapers published since 1827.

Enter your keyword(s) in the search box. The search engine will retrieve articles containing all of your search terms.

To search an exact phrase, place quotation marks around your search terms, for example "Singapore River".
You can use also the Boolean operator OR to expand your search. E.g. kampong OR kampung will retrieve articles containing the words kampong or kampung.
Alternatively, you can use the Boolean operator NOT to narrow your search. E.g. kallang NOT airport will retrieve articles about Kallang but not Kallang Airport.

The Search Term Visualiser charts the frequency a keyword or phrase occurs over a given timeline. Type in a keyword or phrase for a visual representation of its availability across the years. Add other keywords or phrases to compare the results or view where they intersect. You can also filter by title, date range and content type. You may share the chart generated by the Search Term Visualiser via social media.

This feature allows you to view the top 5 most viewed articles in NewspaperSG for the past month. You will be brought to the article when you click on any of the top 5 most viewed articles.

This Week in History highlights a particular week in Singapore's history as reported in the newspapers at that time. Clicking Read More will bring you to the first page of the newspaper issue highlighted.

The searchable newspaper text that appears in the article extract has been automatically generated using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. OCR is a process by which software reads a page image and translates it into a text file by recognising the shapes of the letters (The NINCH Guide to Good Practice in the Digital Representation and Management of Cultural Heritage Materials). OCR enables searching of large quantities of full-text data, but it is never 100% accurate. The level of accuracy depends on the print quality of the original newspaper, its condition at the time of microfilming, and the level of detail captured by the microfilm scanner. Newspapers with poor quality paper, small print, mixed fonts, multiple column layouts, or damaged pages may have poor OCR accuracy.

NewspaperIssues Digitised
Under SPH Media
Berita Harian/Minggu1957 - 2021
City Weekly1994 - 1999
New Nation1971 - 1982
Project Eyeball2000
Sin Chew Pictorial1971
Sin Chew Weekly1971 - 1982
Sin Chew Youth1979 - 1981
Singapore Daily News1932 - 1933
Singapore Daily Times1868, 1877 - 1882
Singapore Monitor1982 - 1985
Straits Times Overland Journal1869 - 1881
Straits Times Weekly Issue1883 - 1893
Streats2000 - 2004
Tabla2008 - 2022
The Business Times1976 - 2021
The New Paper1988 - 2021
The Singapore Free Press1925 - 1962
The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1835–1869)1835 - 1866
The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884–1942)1884 - 1942
The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (Weekly)1888 - 1929
The Straits Budget1894 - 1969
The Straits Times1845 - 2021
The Straits Times : Weekly Overseas Edition1987 - 2003
The Straits Times Annual1905 - 1982
Timeszone Central1989 - 1992
Weekend East1986 - 1999
南洋商报 (Nanyang Siang Pau)1923 - 1983
新明日报 (Shin Min Daily News)1967 - 2021
星洲日報 (Sin Chew Jit Poh)1929, 1934, 1936, 1939 - 1941, 1951 - 1983
联合早报 Lianhe Zaobao)1983 - 2021
联合晚报 (Lianhe Wanbao)1983 - 2021
Under Mediacorp
TODAY/ Weekend TODAY2000 - 2017
Other Publishers
Bintang Pranakan1930 - 1931
Bintang Timor1894
Comrade1946
Daily Advertiser1890 - 1894
Eastern Daily Mail and Straits Morning Advertiser1905 - 1907
Eastern Sun1966 - 1971
Indian Daily Mail1946 - 1956
Indo-Chinese Patriot1900
Kabar Kawat Malayu1924 - 1926
Kabar Slalu1924
Kabar Uchapan Baru1926 - 1931
Malaya Tribune1914 - 1951
Malayan Saturday Post1924 - 1933
Mid - day Herald1895 - 1898
Morning Tribune1927 - 1949
Singapore Chronicle and Commercial Register1827 - 1837
Singapore Herald1970 - 1971
Singapore Standard1950 - 1959
Singapore Weekly Herald1888 - 1889
Straits Advocate1889
Straits Chinese Herald1894
Straits Daily Advertiser1900
Straits Eurasian Advocate1888
Straits Independent1889 – 1896
Straits Mail1894 - 1895
Straits Maritime Journal1895 - 1896
Straits Observer (Singapore)1874 - 1897
Straits Telegraph and Daily Advertiser1899
Shonan Times/ Syonan Shimbun1942 - 1945
Sunday Standard1950 - 1959
Sunday Tribune (Singapore)1933 - 1950
Syonan Shimbun Fortnightly1945
Weekly Sun1910 - 1913
Malayan Newspapers
Malacca Guardian1928 - 1929
Penang Patriot1898 - 1900
Pinang Gazette and Straits Chronicle1838 - 1941
Prince of Wales Island Gazette1833
Straits Echo1903 - 1918
The Malacca Weekly1888 - 1889
The Penang Patriot1898 - 1900
The Penang Times1882
The Penang Standard and Mercantile Advertiser1879
The Straits Chronicle1945 - 1946
The Straits Echo (Mail Edition)1904 - 1931

Yes. The zoom feature is provided at the page level. To view an article from the full page, click on "Show Article Zones", and select by clicking within the article boundary.

No, you cannot download a copy of the article.

You can get an un-watermarked copy of the newspaper article from the multimedia stations at selected NLB libraries (please see here for more information). Please collect your prints from the Print Console located at the Photocopying Room or next to the multimedia stations.

If you are based overseas and would like the article reproductions to be sent to you, you can place a document delivery request with us here. Our document delivery team will contact you within 3 working days to liaise further on the details of your request. Please note that all reprographic prints are supplied strictly for reference and research purposes only.

Home users will not be able to view articles from third-party news sources (such as Reuters, AFP and AP) that were published in the last 70 years. Users will also not be able to view articles published in the last 25 years for SPH Media's newspapers. This includes Berita Harian, The Business Times, 联合晚报 (Lianhe Wanbao), 联合早报 (Lianhe Zaobao), The New Paper, The Straits Times and Tamil Murasu (தமிழ் முரசு).

Article zoning and linking are done manually. The high-volume of articles digitised contributes to occurrence of human errors. NLB is proactively seeking to improve the situation.

Newspaper supplement is not treated as a separate section. The page numbers in a supplement run in continuation from the Main section.

a) What is Access Anywhere?

You can access the content of the issue from home or at the libraries.

b) What is Page View Only?

Search function is not available to locate content in newspapers under Page View Only. The following are the newspapers currently available for page viewing only:

Newspaper Titles

Digitised Issues

Jawi Peranakkan

1881 - 1885

Pana Times

1985 - 1987

星洲日報 (Sin Chew Jit Poh)

1951 - 1978

Singai Nesan Tamil Journal

1887 - 1890

தமிழ் முரசு (Tamil Murasu)

1936 - 2008

Warta Malaya

1933 - 1941

Warta Perang

1941

c) What is Multiple Editions?

Sometimes a particular newspaper title may publish two or more editions on the same day.

d) What is On Site Access Only?

You can only access the content of the issue from the multimedia stations at selected NLB libraries (please see here for more information).

e) What is Unavailable Content?

This could be gap in our collection or no issue was published on that date.

If you want to republish an article from the newspapers listed below, please contact SPH Media's Information Resource Centre at:

Tel: +65 6319 5726; +65 6319 5508
Email address: sphlib@sph.com.sg

Newspaper

Berita Harian/Minggu
City Weekly
New Nation
Project Eyeball
Sin Chew Pictorial
Sin Chew Weekly
Sin Chew Youth
Singapore Daily News
Singapore Daily Times
Singapore Monitor
Straits Times Overland Journal
Straits Times Weekly Issue
Streats
Tabla
The Business Times
The New Paper
The Singapore Free Press
The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1835–1869)
The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884–1942)
The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (Weekly)
The Straits Budget

The Straits Times
The Straits Times : Weekly Overseas Edition
The Straits Times Annual
Timeszone Central
Weekend East
南洋商报 (Nanyang Siang Pau)
新明日报 (Shin Min Daily News)
星洲日報 (Sin Chew Jit Poh)
联合早报 Lianhe Zaobao)
联合晚报 (Lianhe Wanbao)
தமிழ் முரசு (Tamil Murasu)

For newspapers not on this list, please email to: ref@nlb.gov.sg.

Enter keyword(s) of a newspaper title in the search box. The search engine will retrieve newspaper titles containing all your search terms. You may also search using Chinese or Tamil scripts.

To retrieve all newspaper titles for a particular date range, place of publication, and/or language, leave the search box empty, select your search parameters and then run your search.

The Newspapers on Microfilm collection is housed at the:

Singapore and Southeast Asian Collections
Lee Kong Chian Reference Library, Level 11
National Library Singapore
National Library Building
100 Victoria Street
Singapore 188064

Please see here for further information.

You can also find online archives of current Singapore newspapers in databases subscribed by the library. To access these databases, go to NLB eResources page, look for "Browse By Type", and click on "eNewspapers". You may wish to note that access to the Singapore newspapers in these databases may only be available to patrons using the multimedia media stations at selected NLB libraries (please see here for more information).

Online newspaper archives are also available directly from the publishers.

Archived issues of TODAY are available to registered TODAY online members at http://www.todayonline.com.

The NewspaperSG portal provides a digital reproduction of what has already been published in newspapers, and is in the public domain. NLB does not make changes to what has been published, as these are publicly available information.

Content in NewspaperSG are digitised from various sources, collections and formats. Please use the Newspapers on Microfilm catalogue to check our holdings.