By Rachel, Yan Yin and Alana

Old Ford Factory

After a thirty minute bus ride, we reached the Old Ford Factory which was situated at Bukit Timah road. We walked towards the entrance, and were told that there was going to be a short film about World War II that we could watch. We kindly proceeded to the theatre, took our places and watched the film.The film ended in 20 minutes and we then made our way to the museum. At the museum, we learned a handful of new things that would benefit our knowledge of Singapore when it was under siege.





Heads were displayed to remind the people not to be rude. People had to obey the Japanese , bow down when they walked by a Japanese soldier and learn the Japanese language for they had been told to do so. There were those that were defiant and tried to be courageous and go against them. The ones that had done so were put to death in the most cruel ways possible( picture on the left.) To keep themselves alive, the Singaporeans had to obey the rules that were implemented, and not cause any trouble such as stealing, being rude, and escaping a soldier when being confronted. Instead they did exactly what was told. Those that were not stubborn, their lives were spared.



The notes used when under Japanese occupation.

The Japanese government issued these notes (picture on the left.) as a form of currency during the Japanese occupation. It was also known as "Banana money", because of the art of banana trees on the ten dollar notes. The value of the notes dropped as there were a lot of "banana notes" around, and that led to poverty as the prices of goods increased and were more expensive. Rice would cost $75, an egg $35, and sugar $120. There were bagfuls of "Banana notes" when people went to shop. The money was worthless to the people. They had to get jobs to pay for food and other goods, so the people worked as coolies, road constructors, and at laundries.




Bukit Chandu Museum

After 15 minutes in the Old Ford Factory, we walked back to the bus and were on our way to Bukit Chandu which was situated at Pepys Road. The bus ride was about 20 minutes long and when we got off, we had to walk up a flight of stairs. We finally reached the top and saw Bukit Chandu. Over there, we took a lot of pictures and learned more new things that occurred during World War II.

We learned that It was very difficult to put food on the table as the best quality of food was first given to the Japanese. Also, it was costly to the people who could not afford to buy food. Many had suffered from starvation because of the prices in the markets.



Singapore learned many lessons from the war. For instance, at the museum we learned about Lt. Adnan Saidi and his troop of 42 men that had guarded Pasir Panjang Ridge. They fought fearlessly to defend Pasir Panjang, but in the end still got defeated. Nevertheless, the perseverance and spirit the troop by the Malay Regiment had to defend the country was extraordinary. They had risked their lives to defeat the Japanese, just like all the other soldiers that had fought in the army. We can learn a lot of things from this. Like how Lt.Adnan Saidi fought till the very end, and even though was outnumbered and severely injured, tried his very best to go on. He died an honourable death and made the people proud.



After 25 minutes in the museum, we headed back to the bus to return to school. As we walked out, we saw a statue located outside the museum. It was in commemoration of the brave resistance put up by the regiment at Bukit Chandu. The Japanese then took revenge on them and killed more than 200 patients at Alexandra Hospital which was situated nearby.

As we made our way back, we thought about how lucky and fortunate we were to be living in peace, and thought never to take things for granted because we will never know what thw people in the past went through, and another war could break out anytime, we thought. We needed to be prepared.