Singapore's Firsts: Made-in-Singapore lenses

Embark on a captivating journey back in time with the debut episode of "Singapore's Firsts" podcast series, where we uncover the fascinating story of the first 'Made-in-Singapore camera lenses.'

 

Hosted by DBS mascots, Xing and Jaan, through Gen Voice AI, we’ll take you deep into the archives to reveal interesting anecdotes of Rollei by a former employee, Mr Nawaz Vilcassim who witnessed it all first-hand.

 

Step back in time and immerse yourself in a unique blend of AI and nostalgia, connecting and relating to the early days of DBS like never before.

 

Profile: Mr Nawaz Vilcassim

Mr. Nawaz Vilcassim embarked on his professional journey with Rollei in 1973, assuming the role of Company Secretary and Head of the Insurance and Legal Division entrusted with a myriad of legal responsibilities.

 

Following the unfortunate closure of Rollei in 1981, his varied portfolio of skills caught the attention of DBS, leading to his recruitment.

 

During his tenure at DBS, Mr. Vilcassim was Deputy Corporate Secretary and then Corporate Secretary of DBS Group prior to assuming responsibilities for the Investor and Trust  business of the Bank. There he grew the business from a nascent presence to  a top rated custody provider in Singapore successfully competing against the major foreign players.

 

Find out more about our heritage: https://www.dbs.com/dbs-heritage/stories.html

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Episode Transcript

Hosts (00:04):
Hello, everyone and a warm welcome to the very first
episode of "Singapore's Firsts", the podcast that delves into the
history of Singapore's innovative 'firsts' and DBS's integral role in
this journey. I am Xing and joining me is my
co-host Jaan.
What's up, everyone? In today's episode, we're talking about Rollei,

(00:24):
a prominent camera manufacturer from Germany that shook things up
by moving its production to Singapore in 1971, giving birth
to the first ever "Made in Singapore" camera lenses. Rollei
cameras were believed to be one of the best in
the world and highly sought after by photography enthusiasts at
that time.

(00:44):
In fact, the late Queen Elizabeth II was actually spotted
with a limited edition gold- plated Rollei 35 camera on
several occasions. That camera gifted to her by then Singapore president,
the late Benjamin Sheares.
At the end of the day, it's not just about cameras.
It's about propelling our capabilities and putting Singapore on the

(01:04):
global map.
Let's hear from Mr Nawaz Vilcassim, a former DBS employee
who also worked at Rollei.

Anecdotes (01:13):
I joined Rollei in 73. It was a big organisation
and I think at that point was the largest investor
in Singapore. We had a huge operation with five factories
across Singapore employing almost 5000 people.

(01:35):
Mr Lee Kuan Yew himself had visited the head office
in Braunschweig in Germany and got them to come over here.
So we knew it was very important and there were
so many visitors coming from all over. Rollei was really
the showpiece, I felt for the Singapore government because various dignitaries,

(01:59):
even the prime minister of Papua New Guinea, they all
visited the company. It was the first kind of a
pioneer investment in Singapore.

Hosts (02:09):
But bringing Rollei into Singapore wasn't a walk in the park.
When it came to financing Rollei, DBS, which was the
bank involved, had plenty of factors to consider.
Rollei was dealing with its fair share of difficulties over
in Germany, including management shake up and tough competition from
powerhouse Japanese brands. It's no wonder their camera sales took

(02:30):
a hit from a purely business perspective. Financing them seemed
like quite the gamble. Some might even argue that it
wasn't the smartest move.
But DBS had to consider the bigger picture. Mr Ang Kong
Hua was among the pioneering team that joined DBS in
1968 from the Economic Development Board and was involved in

(02:51):
bringing Rollei to Singapore as well. He wrote about his
experience in an article for DBS's 50th anniversary. Let me
read it out.
"It was the origin of our entire tool and die
sector capability because Rollei, in partnership with the government, also
set up trade schools that created and trained many tool

(03:13):
and die engineers, optical engineers and craftsmen. It also built
Singapore's capabilities in precision machining and precision manufacturing skills that
were non-existent in Singapore at the time. It was a
national push for Rollei to come to Singapore, but if
DBS hadn't invested, Rollei wouldn't have come. No other institution
here could have done the kind of financing required, and

(03:34):
Singapore needed them to create jobs here."
Let's take a little step back and look at the
process of bringing Rollei to Singapore because what I found
really interesting was Mr Ang's candid admission to his own inexperience.
Let me read out this portion from his article.
"I flew to Germany to compile a report on Rollei's operations.

(03:57):
I visited their factories R & D facilities, assembly lines
and offices so we could figure out how much the
company was worth and its investment potential. To be honest,
we were all young at the time, still learning on
the job and had very little experience. Today, if you
ask me to go to inspect a plant, it will

(04:17):
be a different story."
In fact, Jaan, this was largely true of the bank. Then,
DBS was a newly formed bank, a small fry to
be frank. Many employees were still learning on the job,
yet they went on to finance these significant projects and
rolled out many financial innovations along the way.
With Rollei, DBS financed the company with equity, gave loans

(04:41):
backed by collateral and even built Rollei a factory which,
by the way, was the very first private industrial building
lease in Singapore.
Speaking of factories, let's get back to Mr Vilcassim. He's
got more to share about how the local workforce was trained.

Anecdotes (04:58):
We trained a large number of Singaporeans in the technical operations.
I believe about 500 of them were trained in Germany.
We set up the Rollei Government Training Centre, which trained
not only for Rollei, but for the Singapore's industries at large,

(05:19):
training for various technical jobs.

Hosts (05:22):
We've seen comments on Facebook from former Rollei employees reminiscing
about their days at the factory located at the former
Kampung Chai Chee. Originally a village, it's now a housing
estate in Bedok and simply known as Chai Chee. The
area where the Rollei factory once stood has been transformed
into the ESR BizPark today. Here's what the factory was

(05:43):
like in Mr Vilcassim's words.

Anecdotes (05:46):
It's a huge area with so many factory blocks. We
had production in one area quality control in one area.
It was a huge investment at that time, and it
was very modern. Very up to date. It was impressive.
We could even show that to foreign dignitaries.
The Germans, they related well with the local staff. Every

(06:09):
Friday evening after work, we used to go bowling with
the Germans, so there was a lot of interaction.
The Germans are very hard working people, so that culture
was also inculcated into the locals. If they wanted something today,

(06:30):
it should have been ready yesterday kind of thing. The
culture was very good and it was a learning curve.
The day the closure was announced. We had all gathered
at the German Club of Holland Road, having a welcome
party for the new MD who was coming in. We
heard the next morning that it was announced that Rollei

(06:51):
in Germany was closing down, so that meant when the
parent company closes down that would follow here.
Then in Singapore, we went in to receivership. I, together
with HR, transformed our huge canteen we had as recruitment
booths so that our staff would be employed straight away.

(07:13):
They were in demand at that time because everybody knew
Rollei was closing. They were looking for our staff who
were well trained in precision technology.

Hosts (07:21):
The collapse of Rollei in 1981 was a challenging time
for all involved. Yet amidst the uncertainty, former employees embarked
on diverse paths. Some ventured into entrepreneurship, while others assumed
pivotal roles in burgeoning industries crucial to Singapore's growth.
Take, for example, Mr Lim Khoon Hong, who rose to

(07:45):
become Singapore's first managing director at Siemens Nixdorf, attributing much of
his success to his tenure at Rollei. He said in
a 1992 newspaper interview - and I quote,
"You look at a lot of the supporting industries in Singapore.
They have all been founded by people who have polytechnic diplomas,
and a large number of them have one thing in common.
They have a failure in their record. The failure of Rollei."

(08:08):
He continued, "Actually, we should be thankful for the collapse
of Rollei. It was the biggest company at that time,
an almost totally vertically integrated company, right down to the
screws and pins. In other words, those who worked there
had vast experiences because we could see everything under one roof.

(08:30):
Up till today, many of those who were part of
Rollei's journey still hold cherished memories of their time there
and the invaluable contributions it made to Singapore's development.
lei closed down eventually but DBS’ investment from a national arithmetic standpoint was hugely profitable. Beyond cultivating a big skilled workforce, it also bolstered Singapore's global presence with the 'Made-in-Singapore' label. And with that, we wrap up today's episode. We hope
that today's sharing has provided valuable perspectives, sparked your curiosity
and inspired you to keep dreaming big. Thank you for

(08:51):
tuning in.
Don't forget to subscribe to our channel and stay tuned
for our next episode, where we uncover more captivating stories
behind Singapore's trailblazing accomplishments. You can catch our podcast on
various platforms, including YouTube, Apple, Google and Spotify. Once again,
thank you for joining us on this journey. My name

(09:13):
is Xing.
And I am Jaan. See you in the next episode
of "Singapore's Firsts".