Portsdown memory lane...

SINGAPORE (ST Kinetics at Portsdown Road.) : It used to be where Singapore's military vehicles were produced but come September, the building that houses defence company ST Kinetics at Portsdown Road will be demolished to make way for Singapore's new digital media hub - Mediapolis.

Some of the buildings along Portsdown Road have been around since the colonial days.

But together with other buildings that make up ST Kinetics, they will all soon just be a memory.

For those with the company since it started in 1971, the site speaks volumes of how they toiled to ensure Singapore's defence.

Mr Alex Teo, who's been with the company for 27 years, recalls one of the company's milestones.

"When I joined the company in 1983 as a young engineer, I have been dreaming of the day we produce our own armoured fighting vehicles," Mr Teo said.

"In those days, we were just doing maintenance, some upgrading and retrofitting -- but we have progressed. 

"And when we finally, designed, developed and manufactured the first indigenous armoured fighting vehicle Bionix in 1997, to me, it was a dream come true. In fact, I was the one who organised the roll-out ceremony."

Today, the engineering workshop is empty. The workshop was said to be one of the most secretive places in Portsdown. 

That's because this was where engineers worked on prototypes of infantry fighting vehicles like the Bionix -- with the latest in line being the Terrex -- behind closed doors. 

ST Kinetics was also where the Warthog -- specially customised for the British forces for use in Afghanistan -- was manufactured.

The area is making way for Mediapolis @One North that will occupy an area the size of some 20 football fields. 

Some 1,000 staff of ST Kinetics have been relocated to new premises at Jalan Boon Lay and Chin Bee Road.

-CNA/wk

[ By Hetty Musfirah Abdul Khamid | Posted: 27 February 2011 1634 hrs ]