Old Ford Motor Factory - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Old Ford Motor Factory (Chinese: 旧福特汽车工厂) is a historic building in Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

, located along Upper Bukit Timah Road.

History

The factory is the site of the historic surrender of the British to the Japanese on 15 February 1942, at the end of the Battle of Singapore

Battle of Singapore

The Battle of Singapore was fought in the South-East Asian theatre of the Second World War when the Empire of Japan invaded the Allied stronghold of Singapore. Singapore was the major British military base in Southeast Asia and nicknamed the "Gibraltar of the East"...

in World War II. It was here that the meeting between Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival

Arthur Ernest Percival

Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival, CB, DSO & Bar, OBE, MC, OStJ, DL was a British Army officer and World War I veteran...

and General Tomoyuki Yamashita

Tomoyuki Yamashita

General was a general of the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. He was most famous for conquering the British colonies of Malaya and Singapore, earning the nickname "The Tiger of Malaya".- Biography :...

was held and the surrender document signed. Then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...

referred to that event as the "worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history"; it was also widely seen as a turning point for anti-colonialism in Southeast Asia.

The factory was built by Ford Motor Works in October, 1941 and became Ford's first motor car assembly plant in Southeast Asia. However, Japanese forces invaded Singapore shortly thereafter. During the Malayan Campaign, the Factory’s modern assembly equipment was used by the Royal Air Force to assemble fighter planes. The planes came in parts that were shipped to Singapore in crates. However, most of these aircraft never fulfilled their destiny of defending Malaya. They were flown out of Singapore towards the end of January 1942, when prospects for Singapore looked bleak. Many battles were fought around the areas of the Ford Factory in Bukit Panjang

Bukit Panjang

Bukit Panjang is a suburban area situated in the Central North-Western part of Singapore. The Bukit Panjang Planning Area, located in the West Region, encompasses the Housing Development Board's housing estate of Bukit Panjang New Town and the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.-Etymology:Bukit in the...

, Choa Chu Kang

Choa Chu Kang

Choa Chu Kang is a major residential town and neighbourhood and is a suburban area in the West Region of Singapore...

, Bukit Batok and Bukit Timah

Bukit Timah

Bukit Timah is an area in Singapore and a hill in that area. Bukit Timah is located near the centre of the Singapore main island. The hill stands at an altitude of 163.63 metres and is the highest point in the city-state of Singapore...

. The factory was subsequently taken over by the Japanese Imperial Army and used as its military headquarters. Following British surrender, Japanese forces relocated its headquarters to Raffles College along Bukit Timah road.

During the Japanese Occupation

Japanese Occupation of Singapore

The Japanese occupation of Singapore in World War II occurred between about 1942 and 1945 after the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942. Military forces of the Empire of Japan occupied Singapore after defeating the combined Australian, British, Indian and Malayan garrison in the Battle of Singapore...

, the Factory was designated as a butai or Japanese facility. Nissan, which was then a prominent zaibatsu or Japanese multinational company, took over the plant to assemble military trucks and other vehicles for the Japanese occupying forces.

The Ford Motor Factory resumed operations after the war in 1947 and was finally shut down in June 1980. On 7 February 2006, the Preservation of Monuments Board (PMB) announced that it would gazette

Gazette

A gazette is a public journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper.In English- and French-speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name Gazette since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers bear the name The Gazette.Gazette is a loanword from the...

the historic factory for preservation as a national monument

National Monuments of Singapore

National Monuments of Singapore are buildings and structures in Singapore that have been designated by the Preservation of Monuments Board as being of special historic, traditional, archaeological, architectural or artistic value....

on the 64th anniversary of the surrender on 15 February 2006.

Exhibition Gallery

The National Archives of Singapore (NAS), the new custodian of the historical site, has converted the building to house a World War II exhibition gallery

Collection (museum)

A museum is distinguished by a collection of often unique objects that forms the core of its activities for exhibitions, education, research, etc. This differentiates it from an archive or library, where the contents may be more paper-based, replaceable and less exhibition oriented...

and repository

Repository (publishing)

A repository in publishing, and especially in academic publishing,is a real or virtual facility for the deposit of academic publications, such as academic journal articles....

called Memories at Old Ford Factory. The preserved Old Ford Motor Factory underwent a two-year, S$10.3 million facelift and is now NAS' second repository for its growing archives of various media. The permanent exhibition gallery showcases life in Singapore under Japanese rule, and the exhibition is a continuation from the one on the last battles fought at Bukit Chandu

Battle of Pasir Panjang

The Battle of Pasir Panjang, which took place between 13 and 14 February 1942, was part of the final stage of the Empire of Japan's invasion of Singapore during World War II...

.

The original factory building was very deep but much of it has been removed leaving the front facade and a building of moderate depth. Careful restoration

Building restoration

Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...

work has been undertaken for the building to ensure that its façade is restored as close as possible to the building's original facade when it was first completed in 1941. The boardroom where the surrender took place remains intact and is preserved. It contains a replica

Replica

A replica is a copy closely resembling the original concerning its shape and appearance. An inverted replica complements the original by filling its gaps. It can be a copy used for historical purposes, such as being placed in a museum. Sometimes the original never existed. For example, Difference...

of the original table (the original now with the Australian War Memorial), a clock

Clock

A clock is an instrument used to indicate, keep, and co-ordinate time. The word clock is derived ultimately from the Celtic words clagan and clocca meaning "bell". A silent instrument missing such a mechanism has traditionally been known as a timepiece...

set at the exact time of the surrender, and a map

Map

A map is a visual representation of an area—a symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elements of that space such as objects, regions, and themes....

of Malaya

British Malaya

British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...

. There is now a large modern structure at the street level south of the factory building where visitors can enter and have a walk either up the hill or through this building to the factory.

The journey through the exhibition begins at a reconstructed tunnel, which documents the final days of war leading up to the downfall of Singapore. Newspaper clips, maps and historical artefact

Artifact (archaeology)

An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...

s line the walls, ceiling and floor of the tunnel.At the same time, new facilities such as an audio-visual theatre, with a seating capacity

Seating capacity

Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...

for 76 people, are also integrated into the refurbishment. The theatre screens specially commissioned documentaries, highlighting different aspects of life in Syonan-To (the name for Singapore during the Japanese Occupation). The garden plot behind the gallery features wartime crops like tapioca

Tapioca

Tapioca is a starch extracted Manihot esculenta. This species, native to the Amazon, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and most of the West Indies, is now cultivated worldwide and has many names, including cassava, manioc, aipim,...

, sugar cane and bananas with a wooden walkway similar to that found during the period as well as explanations of the plant life.

Behind the museum are tall condominium buildings and a transmission tower. The front of the museum features a Chinese calligraphy sculpture (和平 or Peace), storyboards that recounts the battles fought during the Malayan Campaign and history of Bukit Timah as well as a granite rock carved with a statement from a decree by Tang Taizong, urging visitors to 'Take History As A Lesson'.

Memories at Old Ford Factory (Chinese: 昭南福特车厂纪念馆) was officially opened by Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean

Teo Chee Hean

Teo Chee Hean is a politician from Singapore. A member of the governing People's Action Party , he is currently the country's Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Home Affairs and Co-ordinating Minister for National Security, and a Member of Parliament for the Pasir Ris-Punggol Group...

on 16 February 2006. The museum had free admission during its first year of opening.

External links

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