Old Ford Motor Factory

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The Old Ford Motor Factory has been gazetted as a national monument, and converted into a World War II exhibition gallery and repository named Memories at Old Ford Factory. In the foreground is a calligraphic sculpture entitled He Ping (和平), Chinese for "peace", by Singaporean artist Chua Boon Kee.

Lt Gen Arthur Percival, led by a Japanese officer, marches under a flag of truce on the driveway towards the Ford Motor Factory to negotiate the capitulation of Allied forces in Singapore, on 15 February 1942.

The Old Ford Motor Factory (Chinese: 旧福特汽车工厂) is a historic building in Singapore, located along Upper Bukit Timah Road.

1 History
2 Museum
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] 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 in World War II. It was here that the meeting between General Arthur Ernest Percival and General Tomoyuki Yamashita was held and the surrender document signed. Then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill 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 the first motor car assembly plant in Southeast Asia. However, Japanese forces invaded Singapore shortly thereafter. Many battles were fought around the areas of the Ford Factory in Bukit Panjang, Choa Chu Kang, Bukit Batok and Bukit Timah. After the British surrender, the Japanese Forces used the factory as their headquarters during the occupation.

On February 7, 2006, the Preservation of Monuments Board (PMB) announced that it shall gazette the historic factory for preservation as a national monument on the 64^th anniversary of the surrender on 15 February 2006 [1].

[edit] Museum

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 and repository 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 relic collection. 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.

Careful restoration work has been undertaken for the building to ensure that its façade is restored as close to when the building was first completed in 1941. The boardroom remains intact and is preserved, and contains a replica of the original table (the original now with the Australian War Memorial), a clock set at the exact time of the surrender, and a map of Malaya. There is a large modern structure at the street level south of the factory building where visitors enter and have to walk either up the hill or through the building to the factory. The original factory building was very deep but much of it has been removed leaving the front facade and a building of moderate depth.

The tour begins at a reconstructed tunnel, which documents the final days of war leading up to the downfall of Singapore. Newspaper clips, maps and historical artefacts 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 for 88 people, are also integrated into the refurbishment. The theatre screens specially commissioned documentaries, highlighting life in Syonan-To (the name for Singapore during the Japanese Occupation). The garden plot behind the gallery features wartime crops like tapioca, 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 has sculpture, a rock with carving and an explanation sign for the Bukit Batok Nature Park nearby.

Memories at Old Ford Factory was officially opened by Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean on 16 February 2006. The museum had free admission during its first year of opening.