The Changi Museum was relocated to
its new home on 15 February 2001 and was officially opened by our Trade and Industry
Minister BG George Yeo. This date was also chosen to coincide with the 59th Anniversary
of the fall of Singapore to the Japanese in 1942. The new Changi Museum replaces
the Old Changi Prison Chapel and Museum (built in 1988) that was relocated to its
current site to make way for the expansion of Changi Prison.
In honouring the spirit and commitment
of those who rose from the depths of adversity, the Museum inspires future generations
to come and deepen their appreciation of the heroic and inspirational stories that
unfolded in Changi during the war. The Changi Museum is dedicated to all those who
lived and died in Singapore, in particular the Changi area, during the dark years
of World War II.
Through documentation of significant
events of the Japanese Occupation, the Museum also serves as an important educational
institution and resource centre. As for the Prisoners-of-War (POWs) and their families,
it is a site that allows for closure of the many emotional scars inflicted by the
war years.
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