Singapore

hThe two night Stop over in Singapore was included in our trip basically for one reason only, we had no plans to do the tourist thing all over the island , we were here for one reason only and that was to see the Changi Chapel and war Memorial that has been dedicated to all who suffered during the dark years of World War 2. This was where my dad was incarcerated for 4.5 years from age 17. Trying to imagine the hardship and the cruelty endured over that time is unimaginable. How he

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Map of the island , must be the cleanest city we’ve been to[/caption]

survived the heat alone is mind boggling. it was 36 deg c with a humidity level of 85 percent as we arrived.

In hind site we could have stayed near the airports as that is where Changi is ,but we had booked a hotel down town for the 2 nights as we had heard that the rail network is so easy to get around on. The first thing you recognize about Singapore is how clean it is, spotless infact. Everything seems to run so efficiently. No traffic jams ever. The cars are so so expensive and with extremely heavy road taxes, they are out of the reach of the normal person and as the trains and buses are so amazingly good there doesn’t seem the need for a car which is the idea.

We caught the train out to Changi after breakfast ,then caught the number 2 bus to the museum 3$ each for a return ! Back to the city , good value for a city transport.

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One of the murals from the wall of the chapel[/caption]

As we arrived, the curator asked us what brought us to the museum and on giving her dads name she said she would look his name up in the records and let us know what she found.

The actual tour itself was an audio tour , vey well done with 26 stations set around a rectangular room with each station having photos, pictures, memorabilia from the different stages from the surrender, the sicknesses, the life under Japanese rule, the forced labour, the fear for survival. This then lead into the re creation they had made of the chapel and the murals (3) painted on the walls , you can only assume this was a central area of comfort.

When we had completed the tour and the curator passed me a printout of a register with Dads name on it , he was number 1484 on the list. I don’t believe this number has any significance, she also commented that a new site worth visiting created by an archeology group called The Adam Park Project was worthy of a visit ( this info is for family if interested). Needless to say it was quite emotional for me.

As we left the museum for the journey back to the hotel , a thunderstorm crashed with a heavy downpour ! Strange !

We left the next morning for our trip to Bali . We couldn’t catch the train as it doesn’t start operating until 6 am ! these Singaporonians have got it right!!

See you in Bali

M and T