Cell door : Changi Gaol

Blue painted metal reinforced timber door and frame with brass handles, locks and steel fittings. On the very top edge of the exterior side of the door is a 40 mm (height) x 60 mm (width) rectangular non-painted patch where it appears a metal plate may have been removed. Each external surface of the wooden side frame has three steel reinforcing rods each with a forked end. There are some small fragments of the original brick and mortar still attached to these reinforcement forks. A pair of wooden support pins each 80 mm in diameter extend outwards from each side frame. The door shows evidence through paint peeling and chipping of being repainted several times. The most recent being dark blue, then light grey and the oldest layer being medium grey. This lowest grey paint level may be the paint primer. Two slide able vision slots made from reinforced glass for the use of the guards are installed in the door. They are set at knee height and at 'eye' height approximately 1.5 metres above the floor. There are also two empty wooden framed clear Perspex holders, one smaller rectangular piece to which appears the cell number would be and larger rectangular one immediately beneath which is likely to be for the inmates name. There is a slight crack in this larger piece of Perspex. A piece of metal pipe runs vertically along the exterior of the left side of the frame. It is secured to the door frame by three metal jackets which are built into the frame. Immediately below the pipe is a rusted steel lever with a small length of chain attached. A white circular chalky feature, possibly a repair, is in the centre bottom of the door. The interior (cell) side of the door is painted dark blue and is heavily chipped. The lower left hand corner has a severely rusted thin metal veneer exposing the wooden door. This metal sheet has been screwed into the wooden core of the door. The circular reinforced glass vision ports are both circular and are 60 mm in diameter. Four bolt heads are semi-recessed at cardinal points around each vision port. The hinge of the door has been bolted to the frame with six bolts which are semi-recessed. There is no handle to open the door from the inside of the cell. There are rectangular remnants of tape removed from above the upper 'eye level' vision port with some illegible writing having been scratched out. There is evidence in many parts of the interior of door of the previous light blue and grey paint layers through rusting, scratches and chipped paint. The rust is particularly prevalent at ground level and along the fringe of the door. Extensive paint chipping and indentations indicate repeated and heavy impact damage below the lower vision port. A small remnant of a white plastic tag exists on the inside of the door frame above and to the left of the upper vision port. Several small points on the door surface have had some green spray paint applied.

Changi Gaol was the civilian prison of Singapore prior to the Second World War starting in 1939. After the Japanese invasion and occupation in February 1942 the gaol was primarily used to hold civilian internees (most military prisoners of war at 'Changi' were held at other sites on the Changi peninsula, such as Selarang Barracks). Post-war, the gaol reverted to its original role and was eventually closed and largely demolished in 2004. Some parts of the original prison were retained and this door was gifted to the Australian people by the Singaporean Government.