Memories at Old Ford Factory

Michelle M. says it very well. This is a most important historical site.
Movies are available to watch in a small theatre, and they range from 20 – 60 minutes. Very helpful in understanding the events of the time. We watched two (one before our tour & then a different film at the end).
Public transport from town is really simple and easy. To get a good overview of the countryside, we took the Red line MRT from Orchard north to Bukit Batok (NS2), and then a short walk to the bus station and boarded bus # 173 towards Clementi. MRT was about 40 minutes, and bus another 20 minutes. Coming back we took the bus to station and went home the other way, switching at Jurong East (NS1), onto the Green East/​West line towards City Hall (EW13). This return was quicker.
This is a MUST visit for all!!!

Such an eye opening experience on two fronts for me: one, I learned what a lot of Singapore places used to be in the past, and two, considering how devastated Singapore was during World War II, it really put into perspective how far this country’s come in terms of rebuilding and becoming a first world country.
Compared to the other museums in town, this one is a bit smaller but there’s definitely a lot of information to process here. I found the exhibits very detailed and at times, interactive, with videos that show real footage during the war, along with interviews with survivors during that time.
A little background about the building: this was Ford’s first factory in southeast Asia, and was where the British formally surrendered to Japan during WWII. After the war was over, operations resumed after 1947, and then eventually closed in 1980. It became a national monument in 2006.
Some facts I learned on my visit:
1) Singapore was renamed «Syonan» under Japanese rule.
2) Before Changi Airport, there was Changi prison… and it wasn’t pretty.
3) Before Great World City became an expat/​ang mo mall, it used to be an amusement park (mind blown!)
4) Before Sentosa turned into a spot where rich people buy condos and roll around in piles of their own money, Fort Siloso was a fortress that the British empire used to protect Singapore.
At times, the subject matter is very heavy (after all, surrenders, occupations, and war are never situations one can make light of) but sometimes you need a reminder of what happened in the past to be thankful of how things are now. Of course, there’s still a lot of turmoil and we’re nowhere near finding peace (or even ceasefire) in certain parts of the world… but one can always hope.