70 Years Ago This Day

Stalks of red paper poppies greet you at the entrance of the gallery.

We had wanted to check out the Japanese cemetery at Chuan Hoe Avenue. But after Laneway and still sunburnt, I wasn't up to lasting another 2 to 3 hours in the sun and humidity peering at tombstones. Mind ou, I really like cemeteries and tombstones. The National Library provided a great alternative with its exhibitions at its gallery on Level 10 to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Battle for Singapore with "Four Days In February: Adam Park, The Last Battle", and "Images of Internment: The Eye & Art of William Haxworth".

I was made dizzy by the smell of new paint that still lingered in the stale air of the gallery. UGH. Hope that dissipates soon. I'm not that old, and not that young. But I can't imagine the peace of Adam Park being shattered by war now. Certainly it was rather painful to imagine Adam Park being the venue for one of the fiercest battles fought (next to the one at Opium Hill) by the dedicated Cambridgeshire Regiment. Idly, the girlfriend and I noted the numerous typos in the information cards.

Haxworth's 'theatre posters' of plays and songs put up by POWs within Changi.

Glad to end the afternoon viewing the collection of William Haxworth's artwork. While grim in context and background, the colors and nature of the reasonable eye of the artist provided for viewers to walk out of the gallery without feeling too depressed. The girlfriend said that on a recent visit to Reflections At Bukit Chandu, she saw a couple of Haxworth replicas and originals there too. For an amateur artist, he's really good. His sketches and paintings captured life in Changi for the prisoners-of-war. Clean lines and humorous captions. The internment did nothing to dampen the spirits of many, despite being threatened by death, illnesses and malnutrition.

I'm vaguely relieved that the exhibitions don't go into the details of torture of Chinese prisoners and the bayoneting of babies. It's quite unsettling to read those stories of cruelty and know that it's all fact. As always, this sort of exhibition is mildly upsetting to visitors on many levels. For me, there's always knowledge gleaned, although there're certain details I wish I hadn't read. I hope never to see war in the country I live in during this lifetime, and remember how war is real and near, and what is happening in Syria today, can happen to any country who's torn apart by internal conflict, unstable political system and rather inefficient diplomatic policies.