Changi Prison


Changi Prison Complex, often known simply as Changi Prison, is a prison complex in the namesake district of Changi in the eastern part of Singapore. It is the largest prison in the country, covering an area of about, and the oldest still in operation since the closure of Outram Prison in 1963. Opened in 1936 by the British colonial government to replace Outram Prison, the complex was constructed with the intention of housing a large number of prisoners due to the rapid growth of the colony and need for a larger penal facility to alleviate prison overcrowding.
During the Second World War and subsequent occupation of Singapore, Changi Prison became notorious for its role as a camp for Allied prisoners of war captured by the Japanese from all over the Asia-Pacific. Many of these prisoners were subjected to brutal treatment and forced labour, and a significant number died from malnutrition, disease, and mistreatment.
After the war, Changi Prison was used to house prisoners of various categories, including political detainees. In the 1950s and 1960s, the prison became a symbol of Singapore's struggle for independence, as many political prisoners were held there for their anti-colonial and nationalist activities. The prison also played a significant role in Singapore's development after its independence, as many prisoners were put to work in various industries, such as farming and construction. In the 1970s and 1980s, Changi Prison underwent major renovations and upgrades to improve its facilities and security. New buildings were constructed, including a maximum-security block for high-risk prisoners.
Changi Prison remains in operation as a crucial component of Singapore's criminal justice system. The prison is well-known for its strict discipline and emphasis on rehabilitation, with a focus on providing prisoners with rehabilitation programs such as education and vocational training to help them rebuild their lives and reintegrate into society after their release. The Changi Chapel and Museum is located close to the prison.

History

First prison

Prior to Changi Prison, the only penal facility in Singapore was the Singapore Prison at Pearl's Hill, beside the barracks of Sepoy Lines. By the 1930s, the Singapore Prison was overcrowded and deemed dangerous. The Singapore Prison had a capacity of 1,080. In the early 1920s, the average daily number of convicts was 1,043; it reached 1,311 by 1931. Thus the 1931 report presented by the newly appointed Inspector of Prisons for the Straits Settlements, and the Superintendent of Singapore Prisons, Captain Otho Lewis Hancock, recommended providing additional accommodation. This would enable the authorities to segregate long-term prisoners, likely to be of special danger to the community, from short-term prisoners while relieving congestion in the existing facility. Deliberations in the Legislative Council saw opposition to the subsequent plans for constructing a new prison at Changi due to uncertainties in the numbers planned for the accommodation, costs, the area to be used, and the possibility of the new prison grounds turning into a white elephant.
Tenders to construct the grounds of the new prison at Changi were put out in 1933. The tender for erection and completion of the quarters was first awarded to Hup Thye and Co for 16,900 Straits dollars on 26 June 1933, and a 2 September 1933 tender for the prison blocks was reportedly awarded to Chop Woh Hup, a local Chinese construction firm, for 1,278,000 Straits dollars on 8 March 1934. Chop Woh Hup had 20 months to complete the construction of the prison blocks. The new prison would be 11.5 miles away from the Singapore settlement along the Changi Road and provide accommodation for 568 prisoners. Completed in 1936, within the 24 feet high, 3,000 feet long prison walls that were made of reinforced concrete, and occupying 13 acres of land, there would be:
  1. An Administration Block and General Store
  2. One European Block of Cells and Workshops
  3. Two Asiatic Blocks of Cells and Workshops
  4. Kitchen and Laundry Blocks
  5. Hospital Block
  6. Recalcitrant and Punishment Blocks
Within the prison walls, there was an inner wall, 14 feet high, exercise yards, and sufficient vacant land to double the accommodation in the future. Outside the wall, 88 acres of land was set aside for gardening activities by the prisoners. Additional quarters were provided for prison staff adjacent to the prison:
  1. Superintendent's Quarters
  2. Chief Gaoler's Quarters
  3. Assistant Medical Officer's Quarters
  4. Two Deputy Gaolers and 26 European Warders' Quarters
  5. Asiatic Chief Warder's Quarters
  6. Nine Blocks of 12 quarters for Asiatic Warders and Attendants
  7. Ten Quarters for Clerks and Dressers.
Along with additional contracts for water supply and sewage disposal, the total estimated costs of the new establishment came out at 2,050,000 Straits dollars. A subsidiary settlement was developed to support an enterprise of small Chinese traders who would provide necessities to the staff and the prison.
When it was officially operational in June 1937, it was claimed to be one of the best prisons in the British Empire. The design of the prison was based on a T-shaped structure, with two cell-block wings stretching out from a central main block, to allow for quick and easy access to either cell-block wing for the wardens whenever necessary. Changi Prison also boasted the use of an advanced and extensive alarm system and had electrical lighting in its cells along with flush-toilets in each. The prison had a holding capacity of 600. Long-term prisoners would be transferred from the existing Singapore Prison.
The death row section of Changi Prison consisted of 24 cells arranged in a horse shoe shaped block around an open air grassy exercise yard. The exercise area itself was enclosed in steel bars and had a wire mesh roof to prevent escape by helicopter. The cells were about three square metres in size, with bare concrete walls on three sides and the remaining side consisting of vertical steel bars facing out into the block. The building also contained the gallows where judicial hangings were performed, and condemned inmates had a final walk of about 20 meters from their cell to the execution chamber.

Conversion into a prisoner of war camp

During World War II, following the Fall of Singapore in February 1942, the Japanese military detained approximately 3,000 civilians in Changi Prison, which was built to house only one-fifth of that number. The Japanese used the British Army's Selarang Barracks, near the prison, as a prisoner of war camp, holding some 50,000 Allied soldiers, predominantly British and Australian, and from 1943, Dutch civilians brought over by the Japanese from the islands in the Dutch East Indies. In the UK, Australia, The Netherlands and elsewhere, the name "Changi" became synonymous with the infamous POW camp nearby, since most of the Japanese prisons were in the Changi area. Around 500 detainees were women who had been separated with their children and marched to the cramped prison camp from their homes. These women and also girls sewed quilts for the prison hospital, daringly embroidering their own secret symbols and stories into the squares, including forget-me-nots, butterflies, angels, scenery of trees and sheep, other symbolic flowers and even a domestic sitting room, ships, birds and a map of Scotland, and one of Australia. They risked severe punishments by sewing, depicting their prison environment and adding dozens, or even over 400 names in one case, onto the cloths. One depicted the Changi Stroll, the forced march of the captive women and children over nine miles to the prison under the occupation by the Japanese on 8 March 1942, coincidentally now International Women's Day commemorating women and the defiance of the suffragettes. Surviving examples of the prison handiwork are in the archives of the British Red Cross, Imperial War Museum, London or held at the Australian War Memorial. About 850 POWs died during their internment in Changi during the Japanese occupation of Singapore, a relatively low rate compared to the overall death rate of 27% for POWs in Japanese camps. However, many more prisoners died after being transferred from Changi to various labour camps outside Singapore, including those on the Burma Railway and at Sandakan airfield.
Allied POWs, mainly Australians, built a chapel at the prison in 1944, using simple tools and found materials. Stanley Warren of the 15th Regiment, Royal Regiment of Artillery painted a series of murals at the chapel. Another British POW, Sgt. Harry Stodgen, built a Christian cross out of a used artillery shell. After the war, the chapel was dismantled and shipped to Australia, while the cross was sent to the UK. The chapel was reconstructed in 1988, and is now located at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Canberra. The prisoners of war also established an education program nicknamed the Changi University.
After the war, Changi Prison was used by the British to hold Japanese prisoners of war, which included former Imperial Japanese Army, Imperial Japanese Navy and Kempeitai personnel, police officers and POW camp guards; British troops were used as ad hoc prison officers. Most of the prisoners of war were eventually repatriated to Japan, but eight former Kempeitai members were found guilty by a military tribunal of torturing 57 internees in the "Double tenth" trial on 18 March 1946 at the Supreme Court Building and were sentenced to death. In the inner yard of the prison, three gallows were erected to carry out the sentences, which were performed in April 1946. On 17 October 1945, 260 German prisoners of war were moved from Pasir Panjang to Changi Prison. Almost a year later on 26 June 1946, all German prisoners of war in the prison were notified that they would be repatriated back to Germany via England on a passenger liner, the Empress of Australia.