Matsushita began in Japan when Mr. Konosuke Matsushita established a small factory in March 1918 at Fukushima, Osaka. In 1927, the trademark “National” was adopted and then in 1935, it was reorganised into Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd.[1] A full range of Matsushita’s products was introduced to Malaysia in January 1958. Such products include washing machines, freezers, toasters, mixers, irons, refrigerators, radios, home lighting equipment, industrial equipment, power packs, automotive and bicycle accessories, television apparatus, communication systems cables, wires and several other electrical products of various nature.
The sole agent for Matsushita’s “National” products in Malaysia and Singapore is the associate of a substantial international corporation, Hagemeyer & Co.’s Handelmaatschappij N. V. Amsterdam of Amsterdam which started in Holland in 1900. As an international trading company in Malaysia which collaborated with an international manufacturer, the combination was proven to be an extremely successful partnership.[2]
In mid-September 1960, good dealers from Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Kota Bahru, Kuala Terengganu, Ipoh, Penang, Sungai Petani, Alor Star, Johore Bahru, Rawang, Sarawak and North Borneo, were sponsored by Matsushita Japan and Hagemeyer to spend a study trip to Japan. Visits to factories of Matsushita in Tokyo and Osaka were included in the programme to learn more on production techniques.[3] Following this first mission, subsequent similar study trips or dealers’ industrial promotion tours were organized. Other trips that followed were the National Stereo Convention, ‘National’ Promotion Tour, National Sales Show 1968, NUS undergraduates studying keys to success of Japanese commercial and industrial giants.
Matsushita appeared in the Republic as a group of companies. The Matsushita Refrigeration Industries (Maris) factory was set up in Bedok South Road, started off with a refrigeration compressor plant. Maris has seven subsidiary companies. Five of these are manufacturing operations, one is a trading company and the other is a technical training centre. Matsushita Electric of Singapore, an iron foundry to produce high quality steel castings, began with a trial production in January 1974. Matsushita Electric Trading (Metos), a subsidiary of Matsushita Electric of Japan, appointed Lim Kim Hai Electric (S) Pte Ltd as their service and sales distribution of National Labour Saving Devices in Singapore and Malaysia. The Matsushita Technical Training Centre (Mastec) was set up to serve the group’s Asean operations to train Matsushita technical personnel from five Asean countries as well as supply tooling required by its regional plants. The other operations besides Maris include Matsushita Electronics Singapore (Mesa) which made consumer products like tape-recorders, radios, combination stereo sets and television chassis. Matsushita Electric Components (Sincom), set up in 1977, made speakers, coils and resistors. Precision parts like micro-motors were made by another component company, Matsushita Precision Motors (MPM) established in 1978 whose motors were used in tape-recorders stereo sets and other products. The iron castings were manufactured at its 2.4-hectare foundry in Jurong while the motors were made by its main 8-hectare plant in Bedok South Road. The other subsidiary, Matsushita Denshi (Mecs), established in 1979 and started off operations in Ayer Rajah Industrial Estate, made semi-conductors and integrated circuits.
There are several things about Matsushita that are worth highlighting, for example, the Tower, the Technical Skills Contest, the Exhibition and the Cartoon Character. A steel advertising tower was built in 1963 in North Bridge Road between the Capitol Theatre and the Bata building. The 165-feet tower advertised National products such as radio, TV sets and electrical home appliances. At the ground level, there was the National Showroom. However, the tower was demolished in 1974 to give way to an urban renewal project. In 1981, the First South-east Asian Matsushita Group Technical Skills Contest was held in the Republic. The competition provided Singapore technicians and skilled workers to evaluate their skill levels against those of their counterparts in other Asian countries. The six-day National Exhibit ’70, Japanese machinery and material exhibition held at the Victoria Memorial Hall was jointly organised by the municipal governments of Osaka, Kobe, Sakai and Kyoto, was participated by more than 60 companies. Agnes, the cartoon character, was used by Matsushita Electronics (S) Pte Ltd (Mesa) to attract females to be production operators, first appeared in the Classifieds in the Straits Times 1983.
Matsushita initially appeared in Malaysia with the officially opening of Matsushita Electric Co. (Malaysia) Ltd. factory at Batu Tiga by the Malaysian Minister of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Lim Swee Aun, on 11 May 1967. It was a witness to the combined efforts of three nations, Malaysia as the host country, the Japanese manufacturers, Matsushita Electric and the Dutch concern, Hagemeyer & Co. The company started construction in March 1966, and it was the first company in Malaysia to manufacture or assemble electrical appliances such as dry batteries, television receivers, electric homes refrigerators and electric fans, with pioneer licenses from the government. Matsushita factories in Malaysia were situated in Shah Alam, Bangi, Sungei Way free trade zone, Sinai free trade zone in Johor and Butterworth.
[1] https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19601016-1.2.151.7?ST=1&AT=search&SortBy=Oldest&k=matsushita&P=5&Display=0&filterS=0&QT=matsushita&oref=article
[2] https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19670511-1.2.156.6?ST=1&AT=advanced&DF=&DT=&NPT=&L=&CTA=Article&SortBy=Oldest&k=matsushita%26ka%3dmatsushita&P=8&Display=0&filterS=0&QT=matsushita&oref=article
[3] https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19600916-1.2.98.9?ST=1&AT=search&SortBy=Oldest&k=matsushita&P=4&Display=0&filterS=0&QT=matsushita&oref=article
Reference: NLB e-newspapers