Ethel Reflections: Changi Chapel and Museum

Met Ada a week after our visit to the National Museum. Changi Chapel and Museum wasn't as accessible as the National Museum, wasn't as big as the National Museum but the experience there wasn't any less memorable compared to the trip to the National Museum.


We met at the bus stop outside some Junior College at Tampines (that should make it Tampines Junior College). Then we took another bus down to the Museum and we missed our stop and ended up walking back to the museum under the hot sun.


I did some read up on the Museum and was educated that this Museum was built for those who lived and died in Singapore during the World War II. As for the prisoners-of-war (POWs) who fought in Singapore during the WWII, this museum was built to heal all emotional scars caused on them and their families.


At the start of the Museum, we were first greeted by the open-aired chapel. A few steps into the chapel, we saw countless notes and well wishes written by locals and people coming from abroad. Without a doubt, this museum had evoked a lot of feelings in them and caused them to think beyond superficial knowledge provided by the textbook. The entire wall and covered with colouful post-it notes.


What left the greatest impression on my mind was a couple from UK. The lady was tearing as she walked the chapel reading the many well wishes on the wall. She went on to lit a candle by the side of the chapel and wrote a note, adding to the collection of post-its on the wall. But her note took a peculiar interest in me. It was different from the other notes written to thank those who fought the war. Instead, her note wrote "In memory of our brave men - so courageous and valiant. Let's not forget the women who also lay down their lives for the love of others.When will we ever learn?" I pondered over her note and thought 'have we neglected the presence of the women during the WWII? and have we really learned from our past mistakes?'


The museum itself mainly showed the contributions of the foreigners. I questioned if that was really the case as the museum actually 'wow-ed' the contributions of the foreigners but in actual fact, was the really the case where the foreigners really helped us in times of need.


The whole museum was filled with oral interviews from people who lived through the Japanese Occupation. But the question is, how reliable were these given the fact that many sounded really biased against the Japanese despite acknowledging that some Japanese soldiers were actually kind towards the people. One example is the Japanese soldier actually provided the POWs with Vitamin B tablets etc.


It awed me to see how the POWs can live so cheerfully despite the the harsh environment and how they could make something out of nothing to entertain themselves like, painting on the wall and playing on the piano in order to take their minds off the torture.


It was a present trip, and the museum taught us many things. It was really effective in showing how the POWs contributed.