Beyond mobility : consumption of the automobile and development of the automobile industry in Singapore, 1896-1980

• Main Author: Lee, Bryant Han Wei
• Other Authors: Park Hyung Wook
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2021
• Subjects: Humanities::History
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/147157
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Singapore is known for its government’s interventionist approach with heavy regulation and controls over its motor vehicle population. The government’s aim is to push Singapore towards a “car-lite” society. The high taxes on car ownership and usage often presents two different narratives – Firstly, that consumption of the automobile is a showing of one’s socio-economic status; Secondly, that the Singapore automobile industry was always under heavy regulation by the government. Since the appearance of the first automobile in 1896, it has increasingly featured as an important part of material life in Singapore. However, literature on the historical consumption of the automobile and the development of the automobile industry in Singapore is scarce. This thesis is an attempt to address the literature gap. Material culture of the automobile is analysed to trace the corresponding developments of the automobile industry from 1896-1980. In addition, this thesis also highlights the historical ironies and contradictions in Singapore’s automobile industry.