Changi Chapel & Museum

The most iconic of Singapore’s World War II sites, even though the museum is housed in a purpose-built venue, and the chapel is a reconstruction (the original was shipped to Australia after the war).

The main interest lies in the stories of industry and ingenuity within the POW camp. The civilian and military internees essentially established an alternative, if somewhat surreal, society, catering for everything from entertainments to the manufacture of thousands of everyday items. Contact with the outside world was maintained through handmade and carefully disguised radios.

The chapel, located in the courtyard of the museum, encourages quiet reflection. It also houses copies of the kitschy but affecting Changi murals, recreated by the original artist, Stanley Warren, after a widely publicised international effort to find him; the preponderance of blue and white is because of his reliance on billiard cue chalk. The $8 audio guide is pricey, but it is comprehensive and complements the displays well.