In Feb, an WWII exhibition, titled Syonan Gallery: War and its Legacies was to open at the former Ford Factory. Previewing the show, The Straits Times noted that the title “Syonan Gallery” was a contentious choice. Members of the public too expressed their discomfort with the use of the name “Syonan”, invoking as it did, memories of the trauma that Singapore suffered under the Japanese occupation; to use the name thus seemed to glorify this period. A day after the opening, Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim announced that “Syonan Gallery: War and its Legacies” would now be renamed “Surviving the Japanese Occupation: War and its Legacies”.
