Changi Prison, Prison facility in Changi district, Singapore
Changi Prison is a correctional facility located in the eastern Changi district of Singapore, surrounded by tall walls and watchtowers made of reinforced concrete. The complex includes cell blocks, workshops, and administrative buildings arranged around open yards and access roads.
British authorities built the facility in the 1930s as a civilian correctional center to hold local offenders. During the war, Japanese forces converted the compound into a camp where Allied soldiers and civilians were detained under harsh conditions until liberation came in 1945.
Visitors to the nearby museum can walk through replicas of barracks and see drawings made by prisoners who were held here during wartime. The handmade crosses and sketches offer a direct view of how people maintained hope under difficult conditions.
The correctional complex itself is closed to the public, but the museum next door opens daily with guided tours and exhibitions about wartime detention. Visitors can reach the area by bus or taxi, and the surrounding neighborhood is residential and quiet.
A small chapel built from concrete and wood stands on the museum grounds as a replica of the makeshift structure prisoners assembled in secret during detention. The walls still carry copies of the texts and drawings they created as a source of comfort and solidarity.
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