By : Ranie , Shu Jin , and John

After a half an hour bus ride , we finally arrived in the Old Ford Factory . Most of us took a look around
nature before going into taking photos . We were taken to a theater to watch a short clip on what happened during World War II . After the clip , we went to the gallery of information on World War II . Our Teacher in charge gave us the persmission to roam around the gallery to get information . Everybody got excited and they got their picture-taking gadgets out and get information without our teacher .


We learned a lot on how Singapore suffered in World War II . And how Singporeans had to go though under the rule of the Japanese in order to stay alive .

One of the sufferings are that the Japanese displayed real human heads to tell the Singaporeans to be polite , and obey the Japanese no matter what they tell them (The Singaporeans) to do . This made the Singaporeans fear them and will do what it takes to stay alive .

Some of the Japanese soldiers had swords with them while patrolling the area in case either of the Singaporean decided to disobey them . The are some Singaporeans who had the effort to fight back but to no avail . Their bodies became corpses .

Another problem the Singaporeans had to go through to stay alive is to learn the Japanese Language . They had to learn the language because the Japanese may not understand English so they forced the Singaporeans to learn Japanese so that they could be understood . Those who refuesed to do it will be exceuted .

A crucial problem with the Singaporeans staying alive is the supplies they were given . They were only given sufficient supply of food only for a family . The food supply given decreased as time went on during the war . So families became hungry over time . And different currency was used to pay for supplies . And the prices for these supplies increased rapidly , so getting supplies would be much harder for the Singaporeans .

We also learned about some of the Singapore Heroes and how they achieved their names and honor .

Firstly , Lieutenant Adnan Saidi

Adnan Saidi (b. 1915, Selangor, Malaysia - d. 1942, Singapore), a lieutenant of the Malay Regiment's 1st Battalion, died fighting the Japanese in one of the fiercest battles in Singapore during WW II. A war hero, he led his men in the Battle of Opium Hill (Bukit Chandu), off Pasir Panjang, giving the Japanese a bitter taste of real combat so much so that when they captured him, they tortured him as revenge before killing him and burning his body. Adnan received medals posthumously for his courage while a memorial plaque was erected at Kent Ridge to commemorate the bravery of Adnan and his men. The memory of this brave soldier also lives on at Kranji War Memorial where his name is etched on the main memorial column wall of the Kranji War Cemetery.

Another Hero would be Mr. Lim Bo Seng

During World War II , Lim left Singapore and travelled to Sumatra with other Chinese community leaders and made his way to India later. He recruited and trained hundreds of secret agents through intensive military intelligence missions from China and India. He set up the Sino-British guerrilla task force Force 136 in mid-1942 together with Captain John Davis of the Special Operations Executive (SOE). He passed away during the war . He was captured and was held with the Japanese to give them answers . Lim did not spoke a word and kept on suffering from torture and eventually died.

We can learn from these two heroes to never give up and always give your best in everything . And to not give information out if forced to .

Time was up , so we gathered and raturned to the bus which brought us to our next destination , Bukit Chandu . We went for another 10 minute ride and eventually reached Bukit Chandu . When we got out , we took some flights of staircases to the museum . Then we went into the museum in an orderly manner .

We also saw interesting information in the museum , mostly information what the war looked like . There is lots of bautiful art such as

A 3D art on the Timeline of World War II

The plan of the japanese to attack Singapore









Time was up and it was the time to go back to the school to be dismissed . We're sure that everybody had a fun time during this learning journey.

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.

By Sophia,Renee,Jassirah and Kellly

                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Entrance of the Old Ford Factory.

After a 30 minutes bus ride from school, we finally arrived at the Old Ford Factory. we ran up the stairs towards the Factory. Before we entered, a man at the entrance told the teachers that there was a short film prepared at the screening room .the short film was on world war 2. we learnt from the film that many people had survived the war despite the hardships during Japanese occupation.

<<<(entrance at the Old Ford Factory)  

The people of Singapore suffered under the Japanese occupation. they had to obey them or they would be killed.

The malays were arrested on the streets and were sent to Thailand to build the Death Railway. 

<<<<(heads of people who did not obey the japanese)

           The Indians were forced to join the Indian National Army (I.N.A) to fight against the British in India. Those who refused we sent to build the Death Railway. 

The Eurasians also suffered under the Japanese because they looked like Europeans and were put into prison camps.

<<< (Death Railway in Thailand)

The chinese suffered the most because They had actively helped China in its fight against Japan.Many people experienced hunger during the Occupation because there was a shortage of food. Essential foodstuffs like rice, salt and sugar were controlled. Ration cards which limited the amount of food for each person were given out.  

prices of rice and eggs at the Black Market.

the "black market" If a person was not able to pay the price, he or she had to go without it. The people were also encouraged to grow more food. Even in schools, pupils had to look after vegetable plots.

But the food shortage did not affect the Japanese. They had the best of everything: rice, sugar, meat, fish, whisky and cigarettes.

"Banana Money"

The money was worth so little that the phrase "banana money" came to mean useless money. Some people even went shopping with bags of banana notes. In fact, a used towel could fetch as much as $300 worth of banana notes! 
It was hard to put food on the table because food was very expensive and the best quality was given to the Japanese 


44 months of the Japanese occupation brought immense pain, suffering and losses form many who lost family members and friends, and probably apart of themselves die along with them. the people learnt courage, determination survival skills resilience and the selfless acts of goodwill demonstrated by many.

Bukit Chandu Museum

after visiting the old ford factory, we took  another 20 minutes to get to Bukit Chandu. when we arrived, we had to trudge through grass and climb up a flight of stairs to reach the entrance of the Bukit Chandu Museum. 
Bukit Chandu hill was the site of one of the fiercest and last significant battles, the Battle of Bukit Chandu, before the British surrendered Singapore to the Japanese on the 15 February1942

statues outside the Museum

We saw statues that were outside the museum, They were statues of a Malay motar crew who were invovled in the Battle Of Bukit Chandu

Lt Adnan Saidi was the leader of a 42-strong platoon in defense of Singapore against the invading Japanese. tje soilders fought on Bukit Chandu hill area from the 12-14 feburary 1942. although they were heavily outnumbered, the platoon carried on fighting. they held off the invading Japanese for 2 days with heavy enemy shelling,shortage of food and ammunition.

By Stacey Michelle and Bryan

                             A Trip to the Old Ford Factory and Bukit Chandu
                                 
               

                                 

After a 25 minute bus ride,We stepped out of the bus and saw the Old Ford Factory.We have also seen the sign where we have known that we are going in to the Old ford fatory.At the Old Ford Factory,We have saw that how people have lived during world war 2 they have to work as cooilies to earn money, they even have to set up a shop and transports goods.We went to watched a short film and how Singapore has suffered hardtimes.

Actually the people have suffered lots of torture and have a very hard time They have lots of diificulities like carry out  spot checks and for those who are cleared will receive this retangular chop but for the triangular chop meant death this are known for the chop for live and have to take up lessons they  need to keep themselves safe to the Japanese by speaking in Japan they also went to japanese school where they have to  learn                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

like the Nippon lessons.There were many difficulities to have food on the table .

Ever since the Japanese have taken over Singapore,Singaporeans have to get up

early in order to get food If they came to late the Japanese will chase them back to thier homes.Whenever we seen any Japanese soliders we have to greet them them and bow to them to show them some respect.
If we never greet them or bow to them they will slap and beat them up till someone apolopise to them.If anyone who dares to disobey the Japansese they will carry out torture or would put in the cell.
They have also chop out people head too.

                                                                                                                                                  

Singapore has learnt a very important lessons from Mr Lt Adnan Saidi as he said that History must be takn as a inportant lesson to let us know 44 years from the Japnsese suffering.

Bukit Chandu which is next trip we have saw a few soilders trying to fire a cannon.They have suffered with the Japnese soilders as well during war world 2.We also heard some recordings of the people who ere lucky and survived.

They did have enough food on the table and the people have gone through toutures of the

Japnaese like pulling out nails or inserting bamboo under the nails.Some unlucky ones were taken away by the Japanese to be shot .They also have instrument and car engine .Singapore also

has learnt that we must be very cautious of themselves and not to let other countries to rule again by Lt Adnan Saidi