Changi Museum

Last updated
Present day Changi Chapel and Museum Changi Museum.jpg
Present day Changi Chapel and Museum

The Changi Chapel and Museum is a war museum dedicated to Singapore's history during the Second World War and the Japanese occupation of Singapore. After the British army was defeated by the Imperial Japanese Army in the Battle of Singapore, thousands of prisoners-of-war (POWs) were imprisoned in Changi prison camp for three and a half years. While interned there, the POWs built numerous chapels, one of which was named St George's Church.

Contents

History

During the Japanese occupation of Singapore, there were a number of chapels built and rebuilt within and around the Changi Prison, where Allied prisoners of wars were interred. The Japanese did not restrict the POWs' religious activities, and thus the POWs converted existing buildings and utilised scrap materials to build altars and furniture. [1]

Among these chapels, the Roman Catholic Our Lady of Christians Chapel was dismantled after the war and moved to Australia, where it was reconstructed and unveiled in 1988 as part of the Prisoner of War National Memorial in Duntroon, Canberra. [2] This chapel is also known as the Changi Chapel, and is often mistaken for the current replica chapel built next the Changi Prison. [3] The current replica is based on the St George's Church, another chapel which was built during the occupation. [3] [4]

Changi chapel, built by Australian POWs in 1944, later relocated to Duntroon, Canberra Changi chapel at duntroon.jpg
Changi chapel, built by Australian POWs in 1944, later relocated to Duntroon, Canberra

In 1988, Singapore built a museum and replica chapel, based on St George’s Church, next to Changi Prison. When Changi Prison was expanded in 2001, the chapel and museum was relocated to a new site 1 km away and the Changi Chapel and Museum was officially established on 15 February 2001. [5] A brass cross is placed on the altar of the replica chapel. It is known as the Changi Cross, and was made during the occupation by Harry Stogden out of a 45 mm howitzer shell. [3] [6]

From 2001 to 2017, Changi Museum was run by Singapore History Consultants, [7] a private company which offers heritage education and research consultancy services. In 2018, the National Museum of Singapore took over operations of the museum from the Singapore Tourism Board, and it was closed for redevelopment after 17 years of operation. [8] [9]

The museum's reopening in 2020 was delayed a year [10] due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the newly renamed Changi Chapel and Museum was reopened virtually on 18 May 2021 by Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth & Second Minister for Law.

Collection

The museum has 114 artefacts on display, including paintings, photographs and personal effects, many of which were donated by former POWs and their families. [11] They give visitors a glimpse into the daily lives of the internees, the challenges they faced and eventual liberation.

Artefacts on display include a 400-page diary and a Kodak Baby Brownie camera, which were painstakingly hidden by some of the internees. The diary belonged to Mr Arthur Westrop, who wrote every entry as a letter to his wife, who was in Africa. The camera belonged to Sergeant John Ritchie Johnston and was given to him by his wife. Johnston managed to bring the camera with him to Changi and hid it from his captors during the entire period of his incarceration.

A re-created Changi Gaol cell gives visitors a glimpse into how the internees were housed and a sense of the cramped living confines of the internees. The re-created cell includes historical recordings of conversations between the internees which offer a glimpse into their living conditions and daily experiences.

Other familiar and significant objects include a section of the Changi Wall, a Morse code device hidden in a matchbox that was used by internees to transmit messages, a set of watercolour paintings by Mary Angela Bateman, who was among the thousands of women and children interned in Changi Prison, [12] and the Changi Murals, a set of five Biblical murals painted by the POW Stanley Warren during his incarceration.

The museum now features eight galleries, which include:

  1. Changi Fortress - This section introduces the history of Changi, which in the 19th century was largely covered by mangrove swamps and rainforests. In the 1920s, this quiet idyll began to change as the British started to construct batteries and barracks to protect Singapore from attack.
  2. Fallen Fortress - This section covers the fall of Singapore as well as the fate that soldiers and civilians alike faced in the aftermath.
  3. The Interned - Approximately 48,000 soldiers and civilians were marched to Changi, which was converted into a vast prison camp. This section spotlights the stories of the men, women, and children who were interned in Changi.
  4. Life as POW – The day-to-day lives of those imprisoned in Changi are introduced in this section, along with remnants of the actual Changi Gaol.
  5. Resilience in Adversity - This section offers a glimpse into both the hardships that the internees faced as well as how they responded to their situation.
  6. Creativity in Adversity - Creative expression was deeply important to the internees, who found ways to write, draw, read, craft, play sports, and even stage concerts and plays. This section showcases their creative works.
  7. Liberation - Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945, bringing an end to the three and a half years of the Japanese Occupation of Singapore. This section captures the internees’ feelings about their liberation as well as what happened immediately after the war.
  8. Legacies - The legacy of Changi prison camp continues to live on in the present day. In this concluding section, visitors can look up the names and stories of the internees, and view some artefacts that were produced to remember how they had survived the internment.

Some exhibits from the old Changi Museum are no longer on display. These include a series of paintings and sketches by a POW named William Haxworth which provide insight on the daily life of the internees during the occupation. In 1986, Haxworth's wife donated a collection of over 400 paintings and sketches to the National Archives of Singapore.

Replica Chapel built in Singapore in 1988 and relocated to present site in 2001 POW chapel at Changi Prison.jpg
Replica Chapel built in Singapore in 1988 and relocated to present site in 2001

Related Research Articles

Burma Railway Former railway between Bangkok, Thailand, and Rangoon, Burma

The Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway, the Siam–Burma Railway, the Thai–Burma Railway and similar names, is a 415 km (258 mi) railway between Ban Pong, Thailand and Thanbyuzayat, Burma, built by the Empire of Japan from 1940–1944 to supply troops and weapons in the Burma campaign of World War II. This railway completed the rail link between Bangkok, Thailand and Rangoon, Burma. The name used by the Japanese Government is Tai–Men Rensetsu Tetsudō (泰緬連接鉄道), which means Thailand-Burma-Link-Railway.

Changi Planning Area in East Region ----, Singapore

Changi is a planning area located in the geographical region of Tanah Merah in the East Region of Singapore. Sharing borders with Pasir Ris and Tampines to the west, Changi Bay to the southeast, the South China Sea to the east and the Serangoon Harbour to the north. Changi, excluding the two water catchments and islands of Singapore, is the largest planning area by land size.

Changi Prison Prison in Singapore

Changi Prison Complex, often known simply as Changi Prison, is a prison in Changi in the eastern part of Singapore.

Stanley Warren

Stanley Warren was an English painter. He was a bombardier of the 15th Regiment of the Royal Regiment of Artillery who became known for the Changi Murals he painted at a chapel during his internment in Changi prison in Singapore during World War II.

A civilian internee is a civilian detained by a party to a war for security reasons. Internees are usually forced to reside in internment camps. Historical examples include Japanese American internment and internment of German Americans in the United States during World War II. Japan interned 130,000 Dutch, British, and American civilians in Asia during World War II.

Elizabeth Choy Singaporean educator, councillor, war heroine

Elizabeth Choy Su-Moi, was a Singaporean educator and councillor who is regarded as a war heroine in Singapore. Along with her husband, Choy Khun Heng, she supplied medicine, money and messages to prisoners-of-war interned in Changi Prison when the Japanese occupied Singapore during World War II.

Batu Lintang camp

Batu Lintang camp at Kuching, Sarawak on the island of Borneo was a Japanese internment camp during the Second World War. It was unusual in that it housed both Allied prisoners of war (POWs) and civilian internees. The camp, which operated from March 1942 until the liberation of the camp in September 1945, was housed in buildings that were originally British Indian Army barracks. The original area was extended by the Japanese, until it covered about 50 acres. The camp population fluctuated, due to movement of prisoners between camps in Borneo, and as a result of the deaths of the prisoners. It had a maximum population of some 3,000 prisoners.

Stanley Internment Camp

Stanley Internment Camp was a civilian internment camp in Hong Kong during the Second World War. Located in Stanley, on the southern end of Hong Kong Island, it was used by the Japanese imperial forces to hold non-Chinese enemy nationals after their victory in the Battle of Hong Kong, a battle in the Pacific campaign of the Second World War. About 2,800 men, women, and children were held at the non-segregated camp for 44 months from early January 1942 to August 1945 when Japanese forces surrendered. The camp area consisted of St Stephen's College and the grounds of Stanley Prison, excluding the prison itself.

Selarang Barracks incident British prisoner-of-war revolt

The Selarang Barracks incident, also known as the Barrack Square incident or the Selarang Square Squeeze, was a revolt of British and Australian prisoners-of-war (POWs) interned in a Japanese camp in Changi, Singapore.

The "Double Tenth incident" or "Double Tenth massacre" occurred on 10 October 1943, during the Second World War Japanese occupation of Singapore. The Kenpeitai – Japanese military police – arrested and tortured fifty-seven civilians and civilian internees on suspicion of their involvement in a raid on Singapore Harbour that had been carried out by Anglo–Australian commandos from Operation Jaywick. Seven Japanese ships were sunk, but none of those arrested and tortured had participated in the raid, nor had any knowledge of it. Fifteen of them died in Singapore's Changi Prison.

Changi Murals Series of five WWII paintings by Stanley Warren

The Changi Murals are a set of five paintings of biblical theme painted by Stanley Warren, a British bombardier and prisoner-of-war (POW) interned at the Changi Prison, during the Japanese occupation of Singapore in World War II (WWII). His murals were completed under difficult conditions of sickness, limited materials and hardships. With a message of universal love and forgiveness, they helped to uplift the spirits of the POWs and sick when they sought refuge in the prison chapel.

Colditz Cock

The Colditz Cock was a glider built by British prisoners of war for an escape attempt from Oflag IV-C in Germany.

Lionel Matthews Recipient of the George Cross

Lionel Colin Matthews, was an Australian Army officer in World War II. He was posthumously awarded the George Cross, the highest award for heroism or courage not in the face of the enemy, that could be awarded to a member of the Australian armed forces at the time. Matthews was born in Adelaide, South Australia, and was schooled there before moving to Victoria. He trained as a signalman in the Royal Australian Naval Reserve before joining the Militia in April 1939. Commissioned as an officer in the Australian Corps of Signals, Matthews transferred to the 8th Division of the Second Australian Imperial Force after the outbreak of World War II.

Changi Air Base

Changi Air Base or Changi Air Base (West) (Changi West Complex), formerly RAF Changi, is an airfield military airbase of the Republic of Singapore Air Force located at Changi, in the eastern tip of Singapore. Sited at two locations to the east and west of Singapore Changi Airport, it co-shares runway facilities with the civilian airport and currently occupies a third runway slated for future expansion for civilian use by Singapore Changi Airport. Together, the two airfields house 121 Squadron, 112 Squadron, No 145 Squadron, the Field Defence Squadron, the Air Logistics Squadron and the Airfield Maintenance Squadron. The air base badge carries the motto Together in Excellence.

New Bilibid Prison

The New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa, Metro Manila is the main insular penitentiary designed to house the prison population of the Philippines. It is maintained by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) under the Department of Justice. As of May 2018, the NBP housed 26,877 convicted criminals.

Eugene Ernest Colman was an English chess master. The son of the architect Ernest Gershom Colman (1851-1935) he graduated from Cambridge University with a law degree and entered service in the Malay States. When he retired, he stayed on in Malaysia and set up youth clubs throughout the peninsula.

George Kenner German artist

George Kenner was a German artist. He made 110 paintings and drawings during the First World War while interned as a German civilian prisoner of war in Great Britain and the Isle of Man.

John ('Jack') George Mennie, A.R.M.S. D.A.(ABDN). ARMS., was a Scottish artist who came to public attention in 2011 for his many contemporaneous drawings of his life as a prisoner of war during the Japanese occupation of Singapore and Thailand in World War II. The drawings were made in secret depicting scenes of daily life and personalities in the camps in Singapore and Thailand, working on the Death railway. They also uniquely documented the Selarang Square Squeeze when some 17,000 prisoners were forced to crowd in the barracks square for nearly five days with little water and no sanitation until they signed a 'promise not to escape'.

Changi Hospital is a now-defunct and abandoned general hospital located in Changi, Singapore. Its closure came with the merging with the former Toa Payoh Hospital and was renamed as the Changi General Hospital, which relocated new operations to nearby Simei, not far from Changi. It began winding down activities in February 1997 and remains abandoned to this day but is out of bounds to the public.

AGH Rostrum Club Changi was a Rostrum Club formed during World War II at the Prisoner of War camp at Singapore's Changi Prison. The club was formed by members of the Australian Army's 13th Australian General Hospital, 8th Division AIF and probably included other allied servicemen.

References

  1. Bryan, John Northridge Lewis (1946). The churches of the captivity in Malaya. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
  2. "National Prisoner of War Memorial | Monument Australia". www.monumentaustralia.org.au. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
  3. 1 2 3 "Building Faith" (PDF). Biblioasia. October 2016. pp. 56–59.
  4. "Changi Chapel". www.nhb.gov.sg. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
  5. "This Building Next To Changi Prison Is Actually An Underrated Museum Dedicated To WWII POWs, And It's Just Undergone A Revamp". TODAYonline. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
  6. "The Changi Cross | Harry Stogden". The Changi Cross. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  7. "Associate Companies | Singapore History Consultants" . Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  8. Abdullah, Zhaki (2018-01-29). "Changi Chapel and Museum to close in stages from April for redevelopment". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  9. "Redevelopment of the Changi Chapel and Museum" (PDF). National Heritage Board. 2018-01-29.
  10. "Safeguarding our heritage and making it accessible to all". www.mccy.gov.sg. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  11. "New artefacts from prisoners of war on display at revamped Changi Chapel and Museum". CNA. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  12. Nick Meo (2006-08-23). "Singapore war internee's art on show". BBC.

Literature

Coordinates: 1°21′43.93″N103°58′26.46″E / 1.3622028°N 103.9740167°E / 1.3622028; 103.9740167