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The Preservation of Monuments Board (PMB)
gazetted the historic Ford Motor Factory for preservation as a national
monument on 15 February 2006. |
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The National Archives of Singapore (NAS) has
converted the building to house a World War II gallery called ¡°Memories
at Old Ford Factory¡± and repository. |
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Part of the national monument is the driveway which
the PMB has earmarked for preservation. This was the original route which
General Percival and his three officers took before the meeting with General
Yamashita on the fateful day of 15 February 1942. |
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¡°The historical surrender of the British to the
Japanese at the Ford Factory building was significant in the history of
Singapore. It signalled the end of Britain as the strongest western power in
Asia, and marked the beginning of the Japanese Occupation and Singapore¡¯s forced
incorporation as part of the Japanese wartime empire, said Mr Wan Meng Hao,
Executive Secretary of PMB. |
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¡°It is a reminder of how the political fate
of Southeast Asia was changed forever by the war,¡± he added. |
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The surrender of Lieutenant General Percival
of the British Army to Lieutenant General Yamashita of the Japanese Army
took place at the factory¡¯s board room on 15 February 1942. |
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Built by the Ford Motor Works in October
1941, the Ford Motor Factory in Upper Bukit Timah Road was the first
motor-car assembly plant in Southeast Asia. |
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General Yamashita's 25th Army began its
invasion of Malaya and Singapore when the Japanese military forces
landed in Kota Bahru (Kelantan), Singora and Patani (South-East
Thailand) on the morning of 8 December 1941. On the same day, Singapore
was attacked by the Japanese bombers. |
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The Japanese military offensive overran
British defences on the Malay Peninsula and by 31 January 1942, the
Japanese had conquered Johore Bahru. The battle of Singapore began
as the Japanese moved in to invade Singapore. |
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On 15th February, General Percival
received permission to surrender Singapore to the Japanese. He,
together with two staff officers and an interpreter, left the
bunkers at Fort Canning and arrived at the Ford Motor Works at 5.15
p.m to meet General Yamahita and his officers. The British signed
the surrender document and that ended the Japanese invasion of
Singapore. |
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About the Preservation of Monuments
Board |
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The Preservation of Monuments Board was
formed in 1971 following the enactment of the Preservation of
Monuments Act on 29 January 1971. It was transferred from the
Ministry of National Development to Ministry of Information and the
Arts (MITA), (now the Ministry of Information, Communications and
the Arts) on 1 April 1997 as a statutory board under MITA. |
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To date, 55 historical buildings have
been gazetted as national monuments by the Preservation of Monuments
Board. Of these, 26 of them are places of worship, 18
civic/institutional buildings, 6 commercial buildings, 3 hotels and
2 educational buildings. |
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All gazetted monuments are installed
with plaques highlighting their historical significance.
Preservation guidelines are also drawn up for each monument to
ensure that the preservation and restoration works on a gazetted
national monument are undertaken in a proper and systematic manner. |
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Source:
www.mica.gov.sg/aboutus/pmb.html 7 Feb
2006 |
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See also:
World War II,
National
Monuments,
Old Ford Motor Factory reopens as World War II attraction |
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Important
Notice |
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FrontPage Edition: Wed 22 Feb 2006
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