Changi Prison Complex, often known simply as Changi Prison, is a prison in
Changi in the eastern part of Singapore.
History
First prison
Before Changi Prison was constructed, the only penal facility in Singapore was at
Pearl's Hill, beside the barracks of Sepoy Lines, and was known as the Singapore Prison. 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 (ranging between 650 and 2,500), costs (moving from 2 million Straits dollars to 10 million Straits dollars and back), the area to be used (250 acres to 1,500 acres), 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 provided 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:
# An Administration Block and General Store
# One European Block of Cells and Workshops
# Two Asiatic Blocks of Cells and Workshops
# Kitchen and Laundry Blocks
# Hospital Block
# 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:
# Superintendent's Quarters
# Chief Gaoler's Quarters
# Assistant Medical Officer's Quarters
# Two Deputy Gaolers and 26 European Warders' Quarters
# Asiatic Chief Warder's Quarters
# Nine Blocks of 12 quarters for Asiatic Warders and Attendants
# 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 (for administration areas and warden-offices), to allow for quick and easy access to either cell-block wing for the wardens whenever necessary (from up above, the prison buildings formed the shape of the top of a telegram/telephone pole). 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.
Conversion into a prisoner of war camp
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, following the
Fall of Singapore
The Fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore,; ta, சிங்கப்பூரின் வீழ்ச்சி; ja, シンガポールの戦い took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire ...
in February 1942, the
Japanese military detained about 3,000 civilians in Changi Prison, which was built to house only one-fifth of that number. The Japanese used the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...
's
Selarang Barracks, near the prison, as a
prisoner of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of ...
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
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, whic ...
(now
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
). 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
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, and one of
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
. They risked severe punishments by
sewing
Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with a sewing needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era. Before the invention of spinning yarn or weaving ...
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 9 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
suffragette
A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to member ...
s. Surviving examples of the prison handiwork are in the archives of the
British Red Cross
The British Red Cross Society is the United Kingdom body of the worldwide neutral and impartial humanitarian network the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with mor ...
,
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...
, 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 camp
A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (espe ...
s 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
Canberra ( )
is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
. 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
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
, which included former
Imperial Japanese Army
The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emper ...
,
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...
and ''
Kenpeitai
The , also known as Kempeitai, was the military police arm of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1881 to 1945 that also served as a secret police force. In addition, in Japanese-occupied territories, the Kenpeitai arrested or killed those suspec ...
'' 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 ''Kenpeitai'' members were found guilty by a
military tribunal of torturing 57 internees (which resulted in 15 of them dying) 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 occurred on April 1946. On 17 October 1945, 260 German prisoners of war (who were former ''
Kriegsmarine'' personnel and had served on
U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...
s) 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''.
[Giese, O., 1994, ''Shooting the war: The memoir and photographs of a U-boat officer in World War II'', Annapolis: United States Naval Institute, ]
Kenpeitai
The prison also contained the headquarters of the ''Kenpeitai'', the Japanese
military police
Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear rec ...
. The Kenpeitai tortured and executed prisoners there, who they suspected were spies, such as during the
Double Tenth incident. Most were civilians, although a small number were Allied POWs.
Changi Chapel and Museum
The original open air chapel, built by the POWs in 1944, was later relocated to
Duntroon,
Canberra
Canberra ( )
is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
.
In 1988, Singapore built a replica chapel, next to the Changi Prison. The project included a museum. When Changi Prison was expanded in 2001, the chapel and museum were relocated to a new site away, officially reopening on 15 February 2001. On 1 April 2018, the museum was closed and is scheduled to reopen in 2020.
In 1994, Changi Women's Prison and Drug Rehabilitation Centre was opened.
Demolition and redevelopment
In 2000, a plan was revealed to consolidate the 14 prisons and drug rehabilitation centres (DRCs) that were scattered across the country into one mega complex at Changi Prison location.
The complex would sit on a land at the size of 48ha at the cost of S$1.07 billion, however freeing up 61ha of land, which would make way for residential development.
The complex would occupy on the lands of existing Changi Prison, Moon Crescent Prison and Jalan Awan Prison.
The plan was carried out in phases, with each phase forming a cluster of prison institutions in the complex.
Cluster A was officially launched on 16 August 2004.
Cluster A would house the inmates from the existing Changi Prison, Moon Crescent Prison, Jalan Awan Prison and the Changi Reformative Training Centre.
Cluster B was officially launched on 20 January 2010.
Cluster B would house 5,600 inmates from standalone prisons: Tanah Merah Prison, Queenstown Remand Prison, Sembawang DRC, Khalsa Crescent Prison, and Selarang Park DRC.
The inmates were moved in five separate, single day operations between July and August 2009, making it the largest transfer of prisoners in Singapore history.
Cluster B would eventually become the start and the end of most prisoners' journey within the complex, with the admissions and pre-release procedures carried out in the buildings of this cluster.
In 2012, work on building the SPS headquarters on the Complex's grounds began with the $118.5 million contract awarded to Sembawang Engineers and Constructors (SEC). The building would contain a hydrogen integrated proton-exchange membrane fuel cell power plant to generate clean energy to be supplied to the complex. Due by 2014, it was delayed due to financial troubles faced by SEC. On 15 October 2017, Changi Women's Prison was effectively moved into Cluster A. On 4 July 2018, Admiralty West Prison was effectively relocated to TM2, the yet-to-be demolished facilities of Tanah Merah Prison.
Preservation efforts
Towards the end of 2003, Australian authorities lobbied the Singapore government to preserve the old Changi Prison after knowing that the old Changi Prison would be demolished by April 2004 to redevelop the land for Cluster B, on the basis of its historical significance where 15,000 Australians were imprisoned after Singapore fell to imperial Japan in 1942. On 8 March 2004, a decision was arrived to preserve the old prison's iconic front walls, front gates and two guard-towers at either end of the wall, which was welcomed by Australian's Minister of Foreign Affairs
Alexander Downer
Alexander John Gosse Downer (born 9 September 1951) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United King ...
. In 2016, the historical remnants of the old prison – the entrance gate, wall and turrets – was gazetted as the 72nd National Monument of Singapore. The entrance gate was moved from the adjacent boundary wall and fitted into the retained wall.
The remnants are hidden by a tall fence and barely visible from the road.
In 2016, SPS would consider redeveloping the area in front of the remnants to make them more visible to the public.
Current prison
Presently, the new Changi Prison Complex houses the most serious criminals in the country, including those serving long sentences (including
life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...
) and those
sentenced to death. It serves as the detention site for
death row
Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution ...
inmates at Changi before they are executed by
hanging
Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging ...
, traditionally at dawn on a Friday, except once on 20 May 2016 when the execution of
Kho Jabing was carried out at 3:30 pm after his appeal for a stay of execution was dismissed that same morning.
Changi Prison Complex is also where
judicial corporal punishment, in the form of
caning, is carried out. Caning sessions at Changi are held twice per week. A former employee of the prison has been quoted in 1995 as saying: "They are flogging more and more these days. Before they were doing maybe 60 on Tuesdays and Fridays, now they're doing a hundred".
Notable detainees
Prisoners of war
* Sir
Norman Alexander Professor of Physics, Raffles College, Singapore, Vice-Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria. Helped build a salt evaporation plant at Changi and a small industrial plant that fermented surgical spirit and other products for prison hospital.
* Sir
Harold Atcherley
Sir Harold Winter Atcherley (30 August 1918 – 29 January 2017) was a businessman, public figure and arts administrator in the United Kingdom.
Early life
The son of L. W. Atcherley and his wife Maude Lester Nash, Atcherley was educated at Gres ...
, businessman, public figure and arts administrator.
*
Ian Fraser Back (1918-2008) Operations Manager (San Francisco Office) for the Peninsular and Orient Lines (P&O).
*
Geoffrey Bingham
Geoffrey Cyril Bingham, (6 January 1919 – 3 June 2009) was an Australian author and cleric in the Anglican Church of Australia. , AM, MM (1919–2009), who returned to Australia and wrote several books reflecting on his experiences, including his conversion to Christian faith in ''The Story of the Rice Cakes'', ''Angel Wings'', and ''Tall Grow the Tallow Woods''.
*
Freddy Bloom (1914–2000), journalist and campaigner for deaf children.
*
Russell Braddon (1921–1995), Australian writer, who wrote "The Naked Island" about his POW experience.
* Sheila Bruhn (née Allan), who wrote about her experiences in
Diary of a Girl in Changi.
*Sir
John Carrick (Australian politician), AC, KCMG (1918–2018). The impact of his experiences on his political thinking is described in his biography, ''"Carrick: Principles, Politics, and Policy,"'' written by Graeme Starr.
*
Anthony Chenevix-Trench (1919–1979), Headmaster of
Eton College
Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...
, 1964–70.
*
James Clavell
James Clavell (born Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell; 10 October 1921 – 7 September 1994) was an Australian-born British (later naturalized American) writer, screenwriter, director, and World War II veteran and prisoner of war. Clavell is best ...
is one of the most famous survivors; he wrote about his experiences in the book ''
King Rat''.
*
Eugene Ernest Colman,
chess master
A chess title is a title regulated by a chess governing body and bestowed upon players based on their performance and rank. Such titles are usually granted for life. The international chess governing body FIDE grants several titles, the most pre ...
.
* John Coast (1916–1989), British writer and
music promoter
A promoter works with event production and entertainment industries to promote their productions, including in music and sports. Promoters are individuals or organizations engaged in the business of marketing and promoting live, or pay-per-view ...
. He wrote one of the earliest and well-known POW memoirs of Changi ''The Railroad of Death'', (1946). Coast admitted that he and his fellow officers regularly stole coconuts during the night to alleviate their hunger. Other works of Coast include ''Dancers of Bali'' (1953), and ''Dancing Out of Bali'' (1954).
*
Hugh Edward de Wardener, British,
CBE,
MBE (1915–2013), physician and professor of medicine at
Charing Cross Hospital. He was a member of the
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps ...
. He operated a
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium '' Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting an ...
Ward at the prison hospital. He also treated British soldiers who were forced to build the
Burma Railway. Although he lived to 98, he suffered from
peripheral neuropathy, a legacy of Changi, in his last months.
*
Noel Duckworth, Chaplain, Churchill College, Cambridge.
*
John Cade, Australian psychiatrist who pioneered the use of lithium in bipolar disorder.
*
Lieutenant Colonel Sir Ernest Edward "Weary" Dunlop,
AC,
CMG,
OBE (1907–1993), was an Australian surgeon who was renowned for his leadership
*
Carl Alexander Gibson-Hill
Carl Alexander Gibson-Hill (23 October 1911 – 18 August 1963) was a British medical doctor, naturalist, ornithologist and curator of Singapore’s Raffles Museum. His main interest, area of expertise and legacy of published knowledge was ...
, medical doctor and Director of the Raffles Museum.
* John Hayter, Anglican priest who later wrote of his experiences in ''Priest in Prison''.
*
Percy Herbert (1920–1992) actor. Noted for roles in Bridge on the River Kwai and Mutiny on the Bounty, The Guns of Navarone and Tobruk.
*
Graham Hough
Graham Goulden (or Goulder) Hough (14 February 1908 – 5 September 1990) was an English literary critic, poet, and Professor of English at Cambridge University from 1966 to 1975.
Life
Graham Hough was born in Great Crosby, Lancashire, the son of ...
, Professor of English,
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
, 1966–75.
*
Ezekiel Saleh Manasseh
Ezekiel Saleh Manasseh (died 19 May 1944) was a Singaporean rice and opium merchant and hotelier of Iraqi-Jewish descent, who co-founded Singapore's Goodwood Park Hotel with his brothers Morris and Ellis. During the Japanese occupation, Mana ...
(died 1944), Singaporean rice and opium merchant, died in Changi Prison.
* Sir
Percy McElwaine, the Chief Justice of the Straits Settlement.
*
Jim Milner AM (1919–2007), Former chairman
Washington H. Soul Pattinson
Washington H Soul Pattinson trading as Soul Pattison, is a publicly listed Australian investment company.
History
In 1872, Caleb Soul and his son Washington Handley opened a pharmacy store in Pitt Street, Sydney. In 1886, Lewy Pattinson opened ...
and former President
NRMA.
[Who's Who in Australia (Crown Content Melb, 2007) pp 1444: Millner, James Sinclair (1919–2007)]
* Sir
Alexander Oppenheim, mathematician. In 1984, he published "The prisoner's walk: an exercise in number theory", based in part of his experiences at Changi.
* Lieutenant-General
Arthur Ernest Percival
Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more w ...
, commander of Allied forces in Singapore, following his surrender to the Japanese; he was moved to a camp in China in late 1942.
*
Sydney Piddington, postwar Australian mentalist entertainer with wife Leslie, "The Piddingtons" ABC and BBC radio and stage mindreading team, who developed his verbal code in Changi.
*
Rohan Deakin Rivett (1917–1977), Australian writer,
War correspondent and journalist with
British Malaya Broadcasting Corporation in Singapore. Formerly a soldier in the
Australian Imperial Force. He was captured by the Japanese on 8 March, in Java. His experiences are recorded in his book ''Behind Bamboo'' (1946).
*
Tjalie Robinson (1911–1974), Dutch
Indo-European
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Du ...
(Eurasian) author, activist, journalist.
*
Ronald Searle, cartoonist.
*
Robert Skene, ten goal polo player.
*The Reverend James Donald (Donald) Smith, British 18th Division, author of ''And All The Trumpets''
, a history of his time as a POW in Changi Prison and building the Burma Road.
* Colonel
Julian Taylor FRCS, surgeon.
*
Ernest Tipson, linguist.
* Sir
Michael Turner (1953–1962), Chief Manager of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank
*
Arthur Varley, Australian Army officer & diarist
*
Leo Vroman
Leo Vroman (April 10, 1915 – February 22, 2014) was a Dutch-American hematologist, a prolific poet mainly in Dutch and an illustrator.
Life and work
Vroman, who was Jewish, was born in Gouda and studied biology in Utrecht. When the Nazis o ...
, Dutch poet.
*
Stanley Warren, artist and art teacher; murals produced during his incarceration remain at the prison.
*
Ian Watt
Ian Watt (9 March 1917 – 13 December 1999) was a literary critic, literary historian and professor of English at Stanford University. His ''The Rise of the Novel: Studies in Defoe, Richardson and Fielding'' (1957) is an important work in the h ...
(1917–1999), literary critic, literary historian and professor of English at
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...
.
*
Leonard Wilson, Bishop of Singapore, and later Bishop of Birmingham.
* Sir
Michael Woodruff, surgeon and scientist.
Convicted criminals after World War II
*
Hiroshi Abe, Japanese war criminal
*
Nick Leeson, former derivatives broker convicted of
rogue trading in the collapse of
Barings Bank
Barings Bank was a British merchant bank based in London, and one of England's oldest merchant banks after Berenberg Bank, Barings' close collaborator and German representative. It was founded in 1762 by Francis Baring, a British-born member ...
*
Usman Haji Muhammad Ali and
Harun Thohir, executed in 1968 for the
MacDonald House bombing
* Adrian Lim, Catherine Tan Mui Choo and Hoe Kah Hong, hanged on 25 November 1988 for the 1981
Toa Payoh ritual murders.
* Sek Kim Wah, hanged on 9 December 1988 for killing three people in the 1983
Andrew Road triple murders
The Andrew Road triple murders was a case of robbery turned triple murder in a bungalow at Andrew Road, Singapore, in 1983. The robbery was committed by two young men armed with a rifle and knife. During the robbery, one of the robbers murdered ...
. He was also involved in an unrelated double murder near Seletar Road.
*
Anthony Ler, hanged on 13 December 2002 for soliciting and hiring a 15-year-old youth to murder his wife Annie Leong.
* Mohammed Ali bin Johari, hanged on 19 December 2008 for murdering his stepdaughter
Nonoi in March 2006.
*
Kho Jabing, a Malaysian who robbed and murdered 40-year-old Chinese construction worker Cao Ruyin in 2008. He was sentenced to death in 2010, and hanged on 20 May 2016, after a 6-year long legal battle against the death penalty.
* Micheal Anak Garing, one of the main perpetrators of the
2010 Kallang Slashings who was convicted of murder and executed in March 2019 for the fatal and grievous assault of 41-year-old Shanmuganathan Dillidurai (who was the final victim of the case).
* Iskandar bin Rahmat, former police officer and convicted murderer of the 2013
Kovan Double Murders
The Kovan double murders was a double murder case that occurred on 10 July 2013 at 14J Hillside Drive, Singapore. The murders were committed in the home of one of the victims, 67-year-old Tan Boon Sin. The other is his 42-year-old son, Tan C ...
case.
*
Van Tuong Nguyen
A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...
, a
Vietnamese-Australian executed in 2005 for drug trafficking
*
Peter Lloyd, an Australian journalist with the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owne ...
arrested in July 2008 for drug trafficking and possession
*
Mimi Wong and
Sim Wor Kum, the first couple to be hanged in Singapore for murder. Wong was additionally the first woman to be executed in Singapore.
*
Sunny Ang, the first person to be
convicted of murder without a body in Singapore. He was hanged in 1967.
*
Z, the minor who was detained indefinitely from 2001 to 2018 for helping Anthony Ler to kill his wife
*
Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam
Nagaenthran a/l K. Dharmalingam (13 September 1988 – 27 April 2022) was a Malaysian drug trafficker who was convicted of trafficking 42.72 grams of heroin in April 2009 upon entering Singapore from Malaysia at Woodlands Checkpoint with a bund ...
, Malaysian drug trafficker hanged on 27 April 2022 for importing 42.72g of heroin in 2009
*
Pannir Selvam Pranthaman
Pannir Selvam a/l Pranthaman (born 31 July 1987) is a Malaysian drug trafficker who was convicted of trafficking 51.84g of heroin at Woodlands Checkpoint in September 2014. Pannir, who was not certified as a drug courier, was sentenced to death ...
, Malaysian drug trafficker on death row since 2017 for importing 51.84g of heroin in 2014
*
Abdul Kahar Othman
Abdul Kahar bin Othman (1953/1954 – 30 March 2022) was a Singaporean drug trafficker who was found guilty in 2013 of two charges of trafficking a total of 66.77 grams of heroin in Singapore, and later sentenced to death by the High Court in ...
, a Singaporean drug trafficker hanged on 30 March 2022 for importing 66.77g of diamorphine in 2010
In popular culture
*
''King Rat'' (Clavell novel), by James Clavell
*
''King Rat'' (film), based on the novel
* ''
Changi'': The fortunes of a fictional group of Australian POWs were dramatised in this television miniseries, screened by
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owne ...
in 2001.
* ''
Inside Maximum Security'': a 2022
CNA-produced documentary series relating to the lives of five inmates at Changi Prison
See also
*
Changi Murals
*
Double Tenth incident
*
John Mennie – prisoner who drew life in the camps and the ''
Selarang Square Squeeze''.
*
Kempeitai East District Branch
The Kempeitai East District Branch was the headquarters of the Kempeitai, the Japanese military police, during the Japanese occupation of Singapore from 1942 to 1945. It was located at the old YMCA building, at the present site of Singapore's ...
*
Selarang Barracks Incident
References
External links
Singapore Prison Service, Changi PrisonChangi drawings (1942–1945)/ John Noel Douglas Harrison (1911–1980)
* Fong, Tanya. "New Changi Prison goes high-tech." ''
The Straits Times
''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was establish ...
'': 16 August 2004.
* Choo, Johnson. "New technology at Changi Prison Complex allows focus on rehabilitation." ''Channel News Asia'': 16 August 2004.
List of U.S. internees at Changi PrisonVoices of civilian internment: WWII Singapore a digitised collection in
Cambridge Digital Library, contains official administration documents and first hand accounts of life from the civilians interned at Changi/Sime Road
{{Authority control
Capital punishment in Singapore
Changi
Japanese prisoner of war and internment camps
Military of Singapore under British rule
Prisons in Singapore
British colonial prisons in Asia
World War II prisoner of war camps
World War II prisoner of war camps in Singapore
British Malaya in World War II
1936 establishments in Singapore
Execution sites