The Adam Park Project

Item Information:

Catalogue Number: 13/01/016 Source: TAPP Archaeology Surveys Location: No13 & 14 Adam Park Report No: Report No.21 Artifact Type: Coins and Tokens Production Date: 2013-11-20 00:00:00 Dimensions of Item: 25mm Dia Copyright with The Adam Park Project

Other Description:

Item 13/001/16 is 25mm in diameter and appears to have a hole drilled through the top edge with the remains of a nail embedded within it. The inscription reads ‘Primary Productions Department’ and on the reverse ‘Singapore, 1970, 13456’. The token is therefore most likely a locker tab or key ring tag dropped by an employee in or after 1970.

Historic Context:

The following notes were taken from www.eresources.nlb.gov.sg/history/events/14f36ce1-a54c-4bb3-8993-91c57fee7c50 On 25 June 1959, the government announced the amalgamation of the agriculture, co-operatives, fisheries, rural development and veterinary divisions of the Ministry of National Development to form the Primary Production Department (PPD).The main objective was to ensure that the needs of farmers and fishermen were better served. The integration was also to facilitate increased coordination and cooperation between units so that policies could be implemented more quickly. Duplication of services was also reduced as the department adopted a central administration and financial system. Dr Thaw Ah Kow, the former rural development commissioner, was appointed as PPD’s acting director. The focus of the PPD’s work in the 1960s and 1970s was to improve production by introducing new methods of farming and fishing. By the 1980s, when agricultural land had been greatly reduced by urbanisation, the PPD turned its attention to high-tech farms as well as the management and inspection of imported food products.[4] The PPD was restructured into a statutory board and renamed the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) on 1 April 2000.