BIBLIOASIA JAN – MAR 2017 Vol. 12 / Issue 04 / NL Notes A New Exhibition Opens The Former Ford Factory – as the building is officially known − was gazetted as a national monument on 15 February 2006, following its conversion into a World War II exhibition space by its custodian, the National Archives of Sin- gapore (NAS). Memories at Old Ford Factory (MOFF), as the gallery was called, operated for Syonan a decade until it closed in February 2016 for a major revamp. Now, after a year-long refurbishment, the MOFF reopens as “Syonan Gallery: War and its Legacies” on 16 February 2017, featuring refreshed content and a new focus. Syonan or Syonan-to, meaning “Light of the South”, was the Gallery name given to Singapore by its Japanese rulers between 18 February 1942 and 12 September 1945. The gallery subtitle highlights a new area of focus for the exhibition by looking at the impact War and its Legacies of the war and the Occupation years, including (Above) “The Meeting of General Yamashita and General Percival” (1942), an oil painting by the immediate and longer-term legacies of this Saburo Miyamoto. All rights reserved. Tan, S.T.L., et al. (2011). Battle for Singapore: Fall of period on Singapore and the region. the Impregnable Fortress (Vol. 1). Singapore: National Archives of Singapore. (Facing page) Facade of the old Ford Factory on Upper Bukit Timah Road. Now converted Back in 1981, seeing the dearth of written into the Syonan Gallery. Courtesy of National Archives of Singapore. records left behind by the Japanese administra- tion during the three-and-a-half years it occupied Singapore, the NAS, under its then Director Lily cords from the collections of NAS, the National Tan, “embarked on a project to collect oral record- Library, Singapore, partner agencies and private ings and to look for documents, photographs and collectors, this new exhibition aims to capture the all kinds of paraphernalia related to the war and diverse experiences of people who lived through the Occupation”.1 this crucial period of our history. More than three decades after Tan made The gallery features a wide range of mate- that call, the NAS has amassed a significant col- rial, from government records and oral history lection of personal records and oral histories on interviews to maps and records from private this subject. Over the years, many researchers collectors, including cherished personal docu- have been using these sources to reconstruct ments and artefacts from individuals who have authentic accounts that have significantly enriched kept these items all these years because of the A revamped exhibition space opens at the Along a relatively quiet stretch of Upper Bukit our understanding of life in Singapore during the memories – however painful or traumatic – they Timah Road, now dwarfed by high-rise con- Japanese Occupation. represent. Overall, the displays balance big- old Ford Factory in Bukit Timah, marking adominiums, stands the Art Deco façade of the The lack of sufficient documentation from picture overviews of major events interspersed the 75th anniversary of the fall of Singapore. old Ford Factory – built in 1941 and designed by this period, however, remains a persistent black with deeply personal stories and asides. the French structural engineer Emile Brizay as hole, which is why NAS continues the effort The first thing a visitor sees upon entry Fiona Tan details its major highlights. Ford Motor Work’s first car assembly plant in to collect oral histories and personal records to the lobby are displays that set the scene of Southeast Asia. relating to people’s experiences of the war and pre-war Singapore and highlights the history of Part of the original building was torn the Occupation. the Former Ford Factory. The exhibition space down when the area was redeveloped in the One such programme was the Call for proper is broadly divided into three zones: mid-1990s, but the main structure, housing the Archives in March 2016, which saw over 400 • Fall of Singapore: Outlines the events very spot where the British Lieutenant-General items donated by members of the public, some of leading up to that fateful moment where Arthur E. Percival surrendered to Lieutenant- which will be on display in the revamped gallery. British forces surrendered unconditionally General Tomoyuki Yamashita, commandant of NAS continues to welcome donations of historical to the Imperial Japanese Army in the Ford the Japanese forces, on 15 February 1942, has significance from the public so that these can be Factory boardroom. been preserved. preserved for the generations to come. • Becoming Syonan: Captures the diverse That fateful event was preceded by a week As we approach the 75th anniversary of the experiences of people during the Japa- of intense fighting, dubbed “The Battle of Singa- fall of Singapore on 15 February 2017, it is timely nese Occupation. pore”, between the combined British and Allied to revisit these memories and experiences. • Legacies: Highlights the various legacies of forces and Japanese troops after the latter made war and Occupation in Singapore, from the landfall on the northwestern coastline near the Highlights of the Syonan Gallery political and social changes that arose and the Johor Strait. Percival made the fatal error of ways we remember the war in Singapore today. assuming that the Japanese would attack from The revamped Syonan Gallery showcases the In total, there are over 200 exhibits on display Fiona Tan is an Assistant Archivist with the Outreach Department, National the northeastern coastline and had his firepower British surrender, the subsequent Japanese at the gallery. As it is not physically possible to Archives of Singapore, where she conducts research to promote a greater and soldiers concentrated along that front. The Occupation years, and the legacies of the war. cover all the exhibits within the confines of this awareness of its collections. rest, as they say, is history. Through oral history accounts and archival re- article, we highlight a small selection here. 46 47 BIBLIOASIA JAN – MAR 2017 Vol. 12 / Issue 04 / NL Notes Fall of Singapore the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–45). In addition to raising funds through the Singapore Featuring the three intertwining narratives of China Relief Fund Committee, overseas Chinese Japanese military aggression, British defences also contributed their services. For instance, and the civilians in Singapore caught up in these over 3,000 people from Malaya and Singapore larger forces of empire and war, this section of the volunteered as drivers and mechanics, braving gallery provides visitors with fresh perspectives the treacherous 1,146-km-long Yunnan–Burma into what Winston Churchill – the British Prime Road, to transport military and aid supplies to Minister during the war years – proclaimed as the battle front. the “worst disaster and largest capitulation in Others like Lim Kheng Jun enlisted in the British history”. Chinese Military Academy (中央陆军军官学校) in 1939. Lim was trained in China as an intelligence Graduation yearbook of the Chinese officer, and later, as a police officer deployed to Military Academy Beiping and then Hainan. In March 2016, Lim One of the highlights of this section is a responded to the open call for archive materials graduation yearbook of the Chinese Military for the exhibition, bringing along his treasured Academy (1940), which belongs to 96-year-old copy of the yearbook as well as personal records Lim Kheng Jun. of his involvement in the Sino-Japanese war. Even before the war descended on South- as police stations and municipal buildings. by Taka Sakurai, formerly an officer with the (Left) Identity cards issued un- east Asia, the Chinese community in Singapore der the Defence (Security Regis- Japanese intelligence map of Singapore Japanese-owned businesses, such as shipping propaganda department of the Imperial Japanese had already been mobilised to help China in tration) Regulations donated by Another item of note – donated by Lim Shao Bin to lines, were also identified on the map, enabling Army. Sakurai produced these postcards based A.J. Tyler, Chin Sin Chong, David the National Library − is a Japanese intelligence the Japanese intelligence to identify locations on artists’ impressions of scenes of Singapore E.S. Chelliah and Victor Tan. map of Singapore. It is accompanied by a booklet with Japanese interest and spare them from after the fighting ceased. The postcards were Courtesy of National Archives with 83 key locations marked up in red. attacks during the invasion. then distributed to Japanese soldiers to com- of Singapore. (Middle) Such postcards and 4 As the Japanese military prepared to memorate their victory. paintings depicting scenes of advance into Southeast Asia, the chief planner Identity cards issued under the Defence war were distributed to Japa- of the Malayan Campaign, Lieutenant-Colonel (Security Registration) Regulations Becoming Syonan nese soldiers and exhibited in Masanobu Tsuji, hired Japanese who were liv- As the war in China waged on and hostilities in the newly conquered territories as well as in Japan to highlight ing in Singapore as informants. The Japanese Europe broke out, the British colonial admin- On 18 February 1942, Singapore was officially the might of the Japanese mili- military also sent “observation staff” to carry istration began to prepare the local population renamed Syonan-to. The Japanese Occupation tary. Donated by Taka Sakurai. (Right) Lim Kheng Jun pic- out espionage work in Malaya and Singapore in for the possibility of war in Malaya. Initially, the was a grim period in our history. From the acts of Courtesy of National Archives tured here with his graduation the late 1930s. preparations were subtle, such as familiarising state-sanctioned violence to grandiose promises of Singapore. yearbook at the public Call for This map and its accompanying booklet the public with air raid precautions and basic civil as part of the “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity (Top) Overseas Chinese cer- Archives event held at the Na- tificate of registration, 1942.