The Former Ford Factory (also Old Ford Motor Factory and Old Ford Factory depending on sources) is located along Upper Bukit Timah Road at Bukit Timah in Singapore. It is the place where the British Army forces surrendered to Imperial Japanese Army forces on 15 February 1942 after the Battle of Singapore. The Old Ford Motor Factory had since been gazetted as a National Monument in 2006, and converted into an exhibition gallery and archive named Memories at Old Ford Factory. The permanent exhibition gallery showcases life in Singapore under Japanese wartime rule, and the exhibition is one of the continuation of final battles from Pasir Panjang and at Fort Siloso.
The factory was established and built for the Ford Motor Company of Malaya (also known as Ford Malaya in short) in October 1941 and possessed an Art Deco-style façade, which was typical of most buildings and structures, both public and private, of that era, and became Ford's first motor-car and vehicle assembly and construction plant in the region of Southeast Asia.[1]
During the Malayan Campaign of the World War II starting from December 1941, the factory's modern and state-of-the-art assembly equipment was taken over and used by the British Royal Air Force (RAF) to assemble fighter aircraft for defending Allied air forces in the region, aside from the RAF. The fighter planes, most of which were of American origin (such as the Brewster Buffalo), came in individual break-down parts that were shipped to Singapore in large wooden crates. However, most of the aircraft constructed at the factory never fulfilled their intended purpose of defending British Malaya as well as their main stronghold of Singapore. They were all gradually flown out of Singapore towards the end of January 1942 when the prospects for Singapore's defense against the Japanese military's conquest looked bleak and grim. Many battles and skirmishes were fought between the British Army forces and the Imperial Japanese Army forces around the areas of the Ford Motor Factory in Bukit Panjang, Choa Chu Kang, Hillview, Bukit Batok and Bukit Timah.
Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Ichiji Sugita, marches under a flag of truce on the driveway towards the Ford Motor Factory to negotiate the capitulation of British forces in Singapore on 15 February 1942.
The factory was subsequently taken over by the Japanese forces and used as its military headquarters for commanding all of its forces in both the recently captured Malaya as well as Singapore. Following the Battle of Singapore, it is the place where British forces under Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival surrendered to Japanese forces under Lieutenant-General Yamashita Tomoyuki on 15 February 1942. The Imperial Japanese Army would later relocated its headquarters from the motor plant to Raffles College along Bukit Timah Road.
During the Japanese occupation of Singapore from 1942 to 1945, the factory was designated as a butai, or a Japanese-run facility. Nissan, which was then a prominent zaibatsu, or a vertically-integrated monopoly, took over the entire plant to assemble trucks and other motor vehicles for the Japanese military based in Malaya and Singapore as well as abroad elsewhere, such as in its various occupied territories in the Asia-Pacific region.
Following the Japanese surrender in August 1945, the Ford Motor Factory became a repair depot for British military vehicles. Normal business operations under Ford were resumed in 1947. Between 1947 and 1980, the plant continued to produce cars and vehicles, including parts and equipment such as tires and engine components for the local as well as regional markets. The Ford Factory closed its doors permanently in June 1980, and moved its operations to Regent Motors (Ford Service Centre) at Alexandra Road. The factory was converted into a warehouse storage facility. In 1983, Hong Leong Group acquired the site and the art deco building was renamed Hong Leong Industries Building for a while before it was decommissioned again in the 1990s. The rear portion of the former Ford Factory was demolished and became a condominium known as The Hillside, which was built in 1998.
Just after the Cold War, several horror stories connected to the old factory began circulating amongst the local population, mostly centered on the periods of the end of British colonial rule over the island in February 1942 and the subsequent Japanese occupation of Singapore and its end in 1945. Such paranormal tales include the presence of ghosts of former Japanese personnel and troops once stationed at the motor plant, some of whom also committed suicide at the factory following their country's surrender at the end of WWII, and the sightings and sounds of supernatural activities at the locked-up premises, such as the supposed playing of old Japanese music and songs dating back to the 1930s and 1940s and alleged sightings of restless, perhaps sometimes even hostile and malevolent, spirits roaming around the old factory's buildings.
Plans for the conversion of the old Ford Factory into a war museum similar to the Imperial War Museum began after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The announcement was made in December 2002, with the renovation project costing S$10 million. After the 7 July 2005 London bombings, both the Preservation of Sites and Monuments (PSM) and the Singapore government jointly announced the preservation of the site as a National monument on the 64th anniversary of the British surrender of Singapore and its subsequent fall to Imperial Japan on 15 February 1942. The site was gazetted on 15 February 2006.[2][3][4] During the renovation, the front facade and building were preserved to a moderate depth. While the building facade was retained to look as it was first completed in 1941, other rooms remain the same. One example is the boardroom where the surrender took place, which contains a replica of the original table, the clock set at the exact time of the surrender, and a map of Malaya during the war. There is a large modern structure at street level south of the factory building where visitors can enter and have a walk either up the hill or through the building to the factory area. The museum is also dedicated to the entire history of the Ford Factory, together with the events in World War II, including wartime crops and food rationing. It is also one of the principal markers for the Bukit Timah KTM corridor and the now-Downtown Line Stage 2, the others include Beauty World (Seventh Mile) and Bukit Panjang (Tenth Mile).
Originally named Memories at Old Ford Factory,[5] it was closed for renovations in 2016,[6] and was known as Syonan Gallery: War and its Legacies, which was dropped due to the public outcry for the use of the Japanese word Syonan, which was the name the Japanese used to refer to Singapore.[7] It was renamed Surviving the Japanese Occupation: War and Its Legacies on 15 February 2017, by Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim.
Gallery
In the foreground is a calligraphic sculpture titled He Ping (和平), Chinese for "peace", by Singaporean artist Chua Boon Kee.
Sook Ching was a mass killing that occurred from 18 February to 4 March 1942 in Singapore after it fell to the Japanese. It was a systematic purge and massacre of 'anti-Japanese' elements in Singapore, with the Singaporean Chinese particularly targeted by the Japanese military during the occupation. However, Japanese soldiers engaged in indiscriminate killing, and did not try to identify who was 'anti-Japanese.' Singapore was a crucial strategic point in World War II. From 8 February to 15 February, the Japanese had fought for control of the city. The combined British and Commonwealth forces surrendered in a stunning defeat to the outnumbered Japanese on 15 February which led to its fall. The loss of Singapore was and still is Britain's largest surrender in history.
Bukit Timah, often abbreviated as Bt Timah, is a planning area and residential estate located in the westernmost part of the Central Region of Singapore. Bukit Timah lies roughly 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the Central Business District, bordering the Central Water Catchment to the north, Bukit Panjang to the northwest, Queenstown to the south, Tanglin to the southeast, Clementi to the southwest, Novena to the east and Bukit Batok to the west.
The fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore, took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Japanese Empire captured the British stronghold of Singapore, with fighting lasting from 8 to 15 February 1942. Singapore was the foremost British military base and economic port in South–East Asia and had been of great importance to British interwar defence strategy. The capture of Singapore resulted in the largest British surrender in its history.
Bukit Batok, often abbreviated as Bt Batok, is a planning area and matured residential town located along the eastern boundary of the West Region of Singapore. Bukit Batok statistically ranks in as the 25th largest, the 12th most populous and the 11th most densely populated planning area in the Republic. It is bordered by six other planning areas - Choa Chu Kang to the North, northeast and northwest, Cashew to the northeast and east, Clementi to the south, Bukit Timah to the southeast, Jurong East to the southwest and Tengah to the west.
Fort Siloso is a decommissioned coastal artillery battery in Sentosa, Singapore. It consists of 12 such batteries which made up "Fortress Singapore" at the start of World War II, and saw action during the Battle of Singapore. The fort is now a military museum open to the public. The Surrender Chambers in Fort Siloso reopened in June 2017 with a refreshed exhibition and free admission.
MacRitchie Reservoir is Singapore's oldest reservoir. The reservoir was completed in 1868 by impounding water from an earth embankment, and was then known as the Impounding Reservoir or Thomson Reservoir.
The Battle of Pasir Panjang, which took place between 12 and 15 February 1942, was part of the final stage of the Empire of Japan's invasion of Singapore during World War II. The battle was initiated upon the advancement of elite Imperial Japanese Army forces towards Pasir Panjang Ridge on 13 February.
Syonan, officially Syonan Island, was the name for Singapore when it was occupied and ruled by the Empire of Japan, following the fall and surrender of British military forces on 15 February 1942 during World War II.
The Battle of Bukit Timah, was part of the final stage of the Empire of Japan's invasion of Singapore during World War II.
The then British colony of Malaya was gradually occupied by the Japanese between 8 December 1941 and the Allied surrender at Singapore on 16 February 1942. The Japanese remained in occupation until their surrender to the Allies in 1945. The first Japanese garrison in Malaya to lay down their arms was in Penang on 2 September 1945 aboard HMS Nelson.
The 1st Malaya Infantry Brigade was a regular infantry brigade formed in 1939 with its headquarters in Singapore immediately after the outbreak of hostilities in Europe. The Brigade participated in the Battle of Singapore against the Japanese until the surrender of the garrison in February 1942.
Bukit Timah Road is a major road in Singapore extending from the city centre to Woodlands Road on the way to Johor Bahru in Malaysia. The road has a length of 25 km, which makes it one of the longest roads in Singapore, and the road takes its name from the hill. En route, it passes through the areas of Little India, Newton Road, Farrer Road, Singapore Botanic Gardens and Bukit Timah.
Dalforce, or the Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army was an irregular forces/guerrilla unit within the British Straits Settlements Volunteer Force during World War II. Its members were recruited among the ethnic Chinese people of Singapore. It was created on 25 December 1941 by Lieutenant Colonel John Dalley of the Federated Malay States Police Force. The unit was known to the British colonial administration as Dalforce, after its chief instructor and commanding officer, John Dalley, whereas the Chinese in Singapore only knew it as the Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army. This formation took part in the Battle of Singapore and some members conducted a guerrilla campaign against Japanese forces during the Japanese occupation. The British noted how ferociously the Chinese volunteers in Dalforce fought, earning them the nickname Dalley's Desperadoes.
The Bukit Batok Memorial is located on top of the tranquil Bukit Batok Hill upon which once stood two war memorials built by Australian POWs to commemorate the war dead of the Japanese and the Allies who fought during the decisive Battle of Bukit Timah in Singapore during the Second World War. The two memorials were destroyed after the war and only the road and stairs that used to lead to them mark its legacy today.
Kent Ridge Park is a 47-hectare public park located in Kent Ridge, Singapore, between the National University of Singapore and the Singapore Science Park. Due to its undisturbed habitat and abundant plant life, it is a popular venue for bird-watchers and eco-tourists.
The Kempeitai East District Branch was the headquarters of the Kempeitai, the Japanese military police, during the Japanese occupation of Singapore from 1942 to 1945. It was located at the old YMCA building, at the present site of Singapore's YMCA Building on Stamford Road. Opened in 1911, the distinctive Art Deco YMCA building was the site of interrogation and torture of many innocent civilians, including the war heroine Elizabeth Choy. After the war, the Singapore government erected several memorials with some at the former massacre sites. In 1995, the former site of the old YMCA building was gazetted by the National Heritage Board as one of the eleven World War II sites of Singapore.
The Battle of Kranji was the second stage of the Empire of Japan's plan for the invasion of Singapore during the Second World War. On 9 February 1942 the Imperial Japanese Army assaulted the north-western front of Singapore, capital of the Straits Settlements.
Adnan bin Saidi was a Malayan military officer of the 1st Infantry Brigade who fought the Japanese at the Battle of Pasir Panjang in Singapore during World War II. He is lauded as a national hero in Singapore and Malaysia for his actions during the battle. His name has been given to the Malaysian Infantry Fighting Vehicle (MIFV).
Hillview is located in north west Singapore. The neighbourhood overlooks Bukit Timah Hill, hence its name.
Reflections at Bukit Chandu is a World War II interpretive centre developed and managed by the National Archives of Singapore, located on Bukit Chandu off Pasir Panjang Road in Singapore.
References
↑ Tyers, Ray. Singapore: Then and Now. Singapore: Landmark Books, 1993. 525.
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