80th Anniversary Commemorative Book - Singapore Manufacturing ...

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The then-Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, accompanied by the late Mrs Lee, toured the SMF’s Buy-Singapore-Made exhibition at the National Stadiumbasement. They were escorted round the various stalls by SMF officials, headed by the then-SMF President, Mr Ong Leng Chuan.The mega fairsIn terms of scope and appeal, the SMF trade exhibitions in the 1970s and1980s were glittering affairs akin to the F1 events of today, said GroupPresident of event organiser PICO, Mr James Chia.The over-arching theme was: Buy Singapore-made goods.“In the Singapore calendar at the time, it was like the centrepiece of theyear. It was the only mega fair around then,” said Mr Chia, whose companyhad been contracted by the SMF on several occasions to help run theexhibition, and design and build stands.Often, the SMF would follow up these exhibitions with smaller displays insupermarkets, department stores and shops.The SMF only started organising regular exhibitions from 1970 following a38-year hiatus. Its then-President Whang Tar Liang was credited as one ofthe key people behind the move. In a message to mark the start of the 1970exhibition, he explained: “The main purpose of organising this exhibition isto show the general public the achievements of Singapore’s industrialisationduring the last decade. We have also to prove to overseas buyers thatSingapore has made and will continue to make quality products.”Unlike the trade exhibitions of today, which cater to niche industries suchas a furniture show or a food fair, the SMF exhibitions were general massmarketevents which showcased a staggering plethora of goods. In theearly 1970s, many of these were basic necessities, reflecting the simplernature of manufacturing then.Canned food, drinks, tyres, shoes, clothes and furniture went on display atvenues like hotels, the Singapore Conference Hall, the National Stadiumand the old World Trade Centre convention halls.Entire families of excited Singaporeans would pay an admission fee andthrong the halls to check out the goods on display, or to snap up discountedgoods. There were also plenty of foreigners, as the fairs were marketedoverseas, attracting visitors from around the world who were interested inSingapore’s offerings.In 1976, products from other ASEAN countries started making anappearance at these exhibitions. From 1973, the SMF’s Trade DevelopmentCommittee also started organising Asean Trade and Industrial Fairsfeaturing products from Asean and Singapore. Mr Michael Yeo, who wasPresident of the SMF at that time, recalled: “It was very memorable. EvenSingaporeans were quite surprised to see ASEAN products here.”These exhibitions were resounding successes. In September 1973, forinstance, the 120 exhibiting manufacturers received more than $2.5million worth of contracts and orders over the 10-day event at the NationalStadium, which was attended by about 120,000 people.PICO, which was founded in 1971 and became a SMF member soon after,also benefitted from the exposure it received from these SMF exhibitions.“When we first became the SMF’s contractor for the fair, it was the largestscaleevent we had ever handled,” said Mr Chia. “It enabled us to buildup a track record and we were then able to offer our services to local andinternational clients.”Following its work on the SMF trade fairs, PICO set up similar fairs formanufacturers in Malaysia. This eventually led PICO to establish a Malaysianbranch in 1982. Today, the company has 2,500 workers across 36 cities.A Partner in Nation Building 1965 – 1996 55
The SMF product centre in the 1980s.Boosting qualityIn order for the Singapore brand to fly high, the SMF pushed for quality in the1970s. Its leaders were convinced that it was in the interests of Singaporemanufacturers to improve the quality of their products.The then-SMF President, Mr Whang Tar Liang said in 1970: “Although when webegan to industrialise, observations were made that the quality of our productswas not good or consistent, with the establishment of industrialisation,emphasis was placed on quality control, and Singapore manufacturedproducts have proved comparable in standard to improved products.”In 1978, the theme for the SMF exhibition was “Singapore for Quality”.This tied in with the Government’s call for industries to move away fromlabour-intensive products like textiles, toys and beverages, to technologyintensiveand higher value-added industries like electronics and petrolchemicals,so as to enhance the export competitiveness of Singaporeproducts.The 1970s marked the dawn of precision engineering in Singapore, animportant industry that propelled the country into the next level of economicdevelopment.While Singapore had been moving along at a fast clip and had been termedone of the original “Newly Industrialised Countries” alongside Hong Kong,South Korea and Taiwan, a shift was needed to respond to the challenge56 A Partner in Nation Building 1965 – 1996
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ChampioningManufacturing- Partner i
Page 6 and 7: ContentsFOREWORDPrime Minister Lee
Page 8 and 9: F o r e w o r dSingapore has progre
Page 10: F o r e w o r dOur manufacturing se
Page 13 and 14: 12 Singapore Manufacturing Federati
Page 15 and 16: 2002 The eSupply Chain Management C
Page 17 and 18: A New EraThe Singapore Manufacturin
Page 19 and 20: The Ascocenda SMF 80 th Anniversary
Page 21 and 22: • 1973: Colombo Court at High Str
Page 23 and 24: Logos that reflect the timesThe SMF
Page 25: Prelude:The FoundingThe Great Depre
Page 28 and 29: By way of entertainment, a symphoni
Page 30 and 31: The man behind the Singapore Manufa
Page 32 and 33: Apart from one Mr Tay Lian Teck, th
Page 34 and 35: A first-hand accountof doing busine
Page 36 and 37: Working with the new GovernmentAt 2
Page 38 and 39: Amoy Canning leveraged on the SMF t
Page 40 and 41: • The city areas were extremely o
Page 42 and 43: In the first flush of Singapore’s
Page 44 and 45: The-then Singapore Prime Minister,
Page 46 and 47: The then-First Deputy Prime Ministe
Page 48 and 49: ASEAN leaders attending the 9 th me
Page 50 and 51: Ford Motor Company’s old Singapor
Page 52 and 53: In 1968, the then-SMF President Ong
Page 54 and 55: The SMF organised several trade mis
Page 58 and 59: Motorcades, dinners andVIPsThe trad
Page 60 and 61: Learning expeditionsMany of the ove
Page 62 and 63: • Setting up a bureau to help pla
Page 64 and 65: Trade missions to Malaysia proved t
Page 66 and 67: “We thought it would be good to h
Page 68 and 69: • In 1971, the SMF received 200 q
Page 70: SMF members had good reason for che
Page 73 and 74: One such example is the online arm
Page 75 and 76: The 2008 Economic Crisis2008 was a
Page 77 and 78: Building up core strengthUndoubtedl
Page 79 and 80: She said: “After attending the co
Page 81 and 82: Students can also participate in SM
Page 83 and 84: Senior Minister of State, Ministry
Page 85 and 86: “With more local companies being
Page 87 and 88: Coca-Cola Singapore Beverages is an
Page 89 and 90: Heading into the futureAs the SMF l
Page 91 and 92: Epilogue:Mapping theFutureThe manuf
Page 93 and 94: The biggest question of all is: Wha
Page 95: The SMF through its Centre for Corp
Page 98 and 99: One way it does this is by working
Page 100 and 101: Having accrued experience invarious
Page 102 and 103: George and staff group photoTogethe
Page 104 and 105: Manufacturing is indeed pervasive i
Page 106 and 107:
Current statusTo establish partners
Page 108 and 109:
FutureAs Singapore prospers with mo
Page 110 and 111:
Current statusElectronics is the ma
Page 112 and 113:
Current statusIn the last six years
Page 114 and 115:
Current statusThe group helps to dr
Page 116 and 117:
Current statusThe food industry in
Page 118 and 119:
Current statusBy all measures, Sing
Page 120 and 121:
HistoryThe Lifestyle Industry Group
Page 122 and 123:
FutureThe issue of maintaining stan
Page 124 and 125:
Singapore’s precision engineering
Page 126 and 127:
the group. The PCS is a member of t
Page 128 and 129:
“Manufacturing has been a key eng
Page 130 and 131:
My heartiest congratulations to the
Page 132 and 133:
I am much heartened by the strong s
Page 134 and 135:
I congratulate the SMF on its 80 th
Page 136 and 137:
The British High Commission would l
Page 138 and 139:
I wish to extend our heartiest cong
Page 140 and 141:
In the words of NBA player extraord
Page 142 and 143:
Dassault Systemes Singapore would l
Page 144 and 145:
SPETA would like to send our hearti
Page 146 and 147:
On behalf of the members and staff
Page 148 and 149:
回顾新加坡制造商总
Page 151 and 152:
总会积极配合新加坡
Page 153 and 154:
创新求变 , 持续发展19
Page 155 and 156:
迎接挑战 , 展望未来
Page 157 and 158:
Acknowledgements
Page 159 and 160:
ContributorsMr Douglas FooFounder a
Page 161 and 162:
This specially-commissioned commemo
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80th Anniversary Commemorative Book - Singapore Manufacturing ...

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