Singapore Remembers

Singapore commemorates the 60th anniversary of war’s end

This is the final article of three by RSA Review Editor Paul Harrison who was invited to Singapore in February 2005 to gain an insight into the programme of events at Singapore that conclude this month.

When the Japanese found themselves with over 100,000 prisoners of war in February 1942, it was a case of finding a suitable location to incarcerate them. Changi on the northeastern corner of the island was chosen, and the POWs were marched to this area which was primarily a British military cantonment protecting the coastal waterway entrance to the Naval Base at Sembawang.
In addition to the military POWs, some 3,500 civilians were interned and they took over the British Civil Gaol near the military camp. In 1944, the civilians were moved to another camp at Slime Road, and the remaining military prisoners were crowded into the small prison.

The replica chapel in the courtyard of the new Changi museum.

Post-WWII, Changi Gaol reverted to its civilian role, but in the late 1990s it was decided to demolish the Gaol to make way for a housing development.

To preserve the artefacts and memories of the prisoners of the war, incarcerated in Changi Gaol and the nearby military camps, a new museum was erected some 400m from the original prison. Within this complex a replica chapel has been built, similar to the ones that POWs built throughout Asia during their deployment as forced labourers for the Japanese. Within the museum are many personal artefacts, and displays of prison life under the Japanese.
The museum is used extensively by local school children, as they are educated in this very important phase of their country’s development.

Located further up Upper Changi Road is a replica gun battery of the type that was built in the late 1930s to defend the entrance channels to the Naval Base.

The Changi museum has excellent displays showing the privations of the POWs.

During September 2005, several events will be held at Singapore in the build up to the finale, a War Memorial Dedication Service at Kranji War Cemetery on 12 September. One of the important events will be a public forum on 4 September where several local veterans of the war, will interface with academics and the public in discussions on those horrific times. Following that will be a two-day international academic conference on the Japanese Occupation. Another important function will be the dedication at Sembawang on 11 September of a memorial to the two British battleships HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse that were sunk off Kota Bahru 10 December 1941.

The Singaporean government and the Singapore Toursim Board are to be congratulated on their comprehensive programme of remembrance in this 60th anniversary year, and to the many museums and wartime sites that are now available for ongoing education and visiting by those who wish to remember the events of WWII.