Exhibition to showcase made-in-S’pore products

SINGAPORE — In the early days of the nation’s independence, the Villa in the Istana, a black and white bungalow, had the honour of hosting an illustrious list of guests and state visitors, like Deng Xiaoping of China and Pierre Trudeau of Canada.

But one of the lesser-known things about the Villa is that its handmade-quality dining areas, sofas and bedroom sets were furnished by a Singapore company — Diethelm.

Founded in 1921 by a Swiss merchant, Diethelm was a notable local furniture company, fitting out iconic places from the ’70s such as the now defunct Marco Polo Hotel and the Cabinet room in the Istana. Today, the company makes office system furniture and has gained prominence as an external facade specialist.

Diethelm’s furniture and aluminium products will be among the “50 Made-In-Singapore Products” that the National Heritage Board (NHB) will feature in an exhibition in the middle of next year to commemorate the nation’s 50 years of independence in 2015.

In its research, the NHB traced the history of many products that were, and still are, made locally. They included those from well-known companies, like Leung Kai Fook Axe Brand medicated oil and Khong Guan biscuits.

“We hope that more Singaporeans will recognise that certain brands, which they thought were made overseas, were actually made locally and, through that process, become proud of the things that were made in Singapore,” said Mr Alvin Tan, Group Director (Policy) at the NHB.

While preparing for the exhibition, Mr Tan bought an old Setron TV set, which was popular in the ’70s, off classifieds website Craigslist Singapore for around S$250. The nostalgic item, he said, will “definitely be put on display” during the exhibition.

At a preview of the exhibition showcase yesterday, Mr Jimmy Leong, Business Development Manager of Leung Kai Fook Medical, shared an anecdote from the brand’s history books.

In the ’60s, Mr Leung Heng Keng, the son of the founder, decided to dispatch free samples of the oil to Haj pilgrims after he discovered many became seasick while travelling on long voyages to Saudi Arabia.

The oil grew popular amongst pilgrims in the holy city through word of mouth and, soon, they began buying boxes of it back to their home countries, expanding the market reach of the oil. Today, the brand has broken into giant markets like China, India and the Middle East.

While more than 70 companies have been shortlisted for the exhibition thus far, there is still “much fieldwork to be done”, said Mr Tan. From now until early next year, the NHB will continue to source for more products to be showcased.