209. FORD FACTORY - THE SYONAN GALLERY

 

Always wanted to check out this beautiful art deco building after it was turned into this war museum showcasing the Japanese Occupation years, 1942-1945. The subway made it possible to come out this way as its location is in a far flung corner of Singapore, with the Malaysian checkpoint 15 minutes away by road...

The name Syonan-To (Light-of-the-South) was Singapore's baptised name after the Japanese took over. After this first exhibition, members of the public were unhappy with the name for the Gallery and it was dropped. Several decades back, when Changi Airport was named, some unhappy POWs, chiefly foreign, were against that, the name stayed...

Feb 1942 - The surrender of Singapore to the Japanese took place in this room between Lieutenant Generals Percival and Yamashita. The table is a reproduction, the chairs originals...

In Sep 1945, the surrender ceremony of the Japanese to the British took place at today's City Hall than known as the Municipal Building of Singapore...the papers changed hands between Gen. Itagaki and Lord Mountbatten. It marked the end of Japanese Occupation in SEA

Food ration coupons and other tickets used for various purposes...

Currency issued by the Japanese which became 'bananas' with Japan's surrender

a wedding certificate

Took the opportunity to check out the nearest town comprising 4 old shopping centers dating back to the early 70s when Plaza and Centre were in vogue before anyone heard of Mall

Confectionery is another name youngsters will find odd, hard to spell or perhaps even pronounce. Don't even mention Haberdashery, a shop in the mall...

'Grand Uncle' Tua Pek Kong, the deity representing Prosperity. He's one of the pantheon of Malaysian, Indonesian and Singaporean folk religions. There's at least 5 such temples dedicated to him, each set up by the different Chinese dialect groups. Needless to say, you ask him for lottery winnings, big house, big car, all things 'prosperous'.

The original of this temple is more than a century old when it was a shrine...

That about concludes my mini exploration of one small part of a Northern corner of the island...