A Somber Time in Singapore
It’s another perfect day in Singapore. I walked towards town until I found the quaint little local restaurant that actually serves toast with jam! Yum! Even though I absolutely love Malaysian cuisine, there’s nothing like toast and jam! After breakfast I went looking for the Arab Quarter. I wanted a little taste of Middle Eastern flare because Yemen was my next stop.
After a lot of walking and conversing, I went into a mosque and got to experience Muslim culture. I then I caught a taxi back into the city’s center. I paid for another night at one of the 5 star Singapore hotels and wrote down instructions that the receptionist gave me about how to get to the Changi Prison Museum. The way to get there was to take the MRT subway then catch a bus. So, the next morning, I headed out with my instructions in hand. The morning was already hot and as my train sped along overhead, I realized that Singapore’s population is vast. Housing stretched on forever. I got off at the right station and proceeded to catch the correct bus to Changi Prison Museum. It’s a museum dedicated to the Prisoner of War Camp. What a sobering experience. They illustrated how the Japanese tortured and killed prisoners and how they use Local Women as Comfort Women.
After that somber sight, I walked to the Jahor Guns. These are those 15 feet guns that were installed to thwart the Japanese from invading, but they were installed facing the see, which did no good as the Japanese invaded through Malaysia and not the sea. After that I catch a bus to Changi Beach. I had a nice Muslim lunch, which was very tasty and hot. Then I wandered around the beach a bit, it was very peaceful and relaxing. I spotted a plaque denoting that 66 Chinese civilians were executed here by the Japanese Forces.
I took a bus all the way back to the city center, this gave me plenty of time to reflect. All of Malaysia is so beautiful, it’s so hard to imagine a war here, or why anyone would invade. When I got back to my hotel, it was time to retire. I’m glad Singapore survived and has become one of the busiest places around the world.
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