Made-in-Singapore products on show at the National Museum

SINGAPORE — When Mr Poh Shin Yong came to Singapore in 1968 to expand his pewter-making business, he brought seven Malaysian workers along to train the locals.

Singapore had no pewter-making expertise at the time and the beginners progressed from making tumblers to beer mugs that required soldering. 

By the 1980s, Royal Selangor had established a large manufacturing presence in Singapore. It stopped manufacturing activities here in 1990 and most of its products are now made in Malaysia.

Mr Poh, chairman of Royal Selangor (Singapore), is also proud that the company hired people with disabilities, who made up 9 in 10 of his workers at the time. “I felt that we should create meaningful employment for them… we paid them a normal salary at the market rate. As long as their pair of hands and their eyes were good, we felt that we could employ them,” he said at the launch of an exhibition showcasing 50 made-in-Singapore products including Royal Selangor pewter wine goblets and tumblers today (July 15).  

The products showcased are widely used, but what is lesser known is that they are, or used to be, produced here. 

Other exhibits include Nippon Paint cans from the 1960s and 1970s, Bridgestone tyres and Kiwi shoe polish. 

The exhibition, which runs until Sept 6 at the National Museum’s Glass Atrium, is part of the National Heritage Board’s celebration of SG50 and sheds light on Singapore’s early manufacturing history.

The board has been researching and documenting the Republic’s manufacturing industry since 2012 and a preview exhibition last year featured 20 products. This time, 30 more products including lesser-known brands such as Star Brand Jaggery Sugar, Double Prawn brand herbal oils and Robertson amplifiers are on display.

The NHB worked with 36 companies that contributed their products dating from the 1930s to the 1990s.

“This exhibition is guaranteed to be an eye-opener for many Singaporeans who will be pleasantly surprised to learn that many of the products which have been a part of our daily lives used to have, or continue to have, a manufacturing presence in Singapore,” said NHB assistant chief executive of policy and development Alvin Tan. “More importantly, we hope that visitors to the exhibition can partake in the sense of pride of the companies which ‘made it’ in Singapore, and some even internationally, and enjoy the unique heritage stories of their products.”

Entry to the exhibition is free.