Those of you who know me know that I’ve been to Singapore before, and I see it as more than a large, clean, lush shopping mall. It’s an interesting place in many ways, and yet I think most visitors don’t see much beyond the shops and shopping malls (as impressive as they are), and the silliness of Chinatown and Little India.
Today I went out to Changi. Changi is not just he name of Singapore’s legendary if underused airport, but the place where British and Commonwealth POWs were held after Singapore fell to the Japanese in February, 1942. The surrender at Singapore was the worst military defeat in the history of Britain. There is a museum at Changi, just outside the airport fences, which documents the Japanese occupation of Singapore and the suffering of the POWs and Singaporean populations. Cut and past this link for some information: http://www.changimuseum.com/
I don’t know if you have noticed but I am something of a Japan-o-phile. It’s important for people like me to visit places like Changi.
