Singapore. Monday 11th December 2006.

This morning I head out to The Changi Museum commemorating the situation in Singapore following the fall of the city on February 15th 1942. More than 100,000 Allied soldiers were to be incarcerated by the Japanese Imperial Army and Changi was to serve as the main prisoner-of-war camp.

It is ironic that the Changi area before militarisation by the British had hosted a Japanese hotel amongst its rubber plantations and seaside bungalows.

Here in Changi some 50,000 POWs were housed in the prisons buildings and environs.

Changi Gaol was the most modern civilian prison in the British Empire when it was opened in 1937 for a maximum of 600 prisoners. By 1942 the prison had become the home to the internees of colonial high society and by 1945 it had become home to more than 10,000 POWs. The iconic Changi Jail was only demolished in 2005, however a 180 metre stretch of wall in Upper Changi Road North including the main gate, two guard towers and the clock from the clock tower have been preserved.

The irony was not lost on me that the internees were actually held behind British built walls and locked in by padlocks from Chubb of London.

A similar irony lies in the fact that the Kempeitai (the secret police) set up their HQ and torture centre in what had formerly been the Young Mens Christian Association building on Orchard Road.

The museum has many highlights, most famously the Changi Murals. The originals and those here in the recreated St Luke's Chapel were created by Stanley Warren. As a POW he was imprisoned in Changi suffering greatly from malnutrition.

The improvised Changi Chapels that were created by POWs offered the solace of religion at a time of great torment.

St Luke's was the chapel created in the Roberts Hospital area of the camp and the original murals still remain in Block 151 along Martlesham Road in what is now a high-security military area.

The re-created murals in the museum were painted by the Romanian artist Valeriu Sepi and completed in 1988 by Stanley Warren and fellow ex-POW Wally Hammond.

The original chapel was in a small room on the ground floor of Block 151 and as a prison hospital chapel it was dedicated to St Luke who, as a physician, tended St Paul when he was in captivity.

The murals were created in the following order:

PEACE ON EARTH TO MEN OF GOODWILL. The Nativity was the first of the murals completed and the three kings were depicted of different racial origins as a symbol of universal brotherhood.

GO AND TEACH THE NATIONS I AM WITH YOU was the second mural and depicted the Ascension.

FATHER FORGIVE THEM THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO. What an appropriate sentiment for a time of persecution and the Crucifixion was the third of these inspirational murals created.

THIS IS MY BLOOD OF THE NEW TESTAMENT WHICH IS SHED FOR MANY and at a time of malnutrition the symbolism of the Last Supper was certainly not lost on the internees.

ONLY LUKE IS WITH ME. The fifth and final mural of St Luke in Prison again evokes thought processes in the community and reminds us all that suffering is a worldwide condition of man.

Despite poor health Warren designed and completed all five murals which measure at least six feet high and four feet wide. The beauty and magnificence of the artwork would have been a source of strength and hope inspiring his fellow POWs.

Another highlight were the Changi Quilts which are a "testament to the courage, ingenuity and perseverance of the women internees of Changi...initiated by Ethel Mulvaney [they alleviated] the boredom and frustration of incarceration [and] provided the women with the means to communicate with the male internees...under the pretext of a gift".

The original British Quilt is on display at the British Red Cross Museum in Guildford, Surrey.

The museum for me served as a reminder of the faith and strength of the human spirit. When you endure hardships the only real option is to grow stronger and survive. It teaches you the value of resilience, discipline, self-sufficiency and determination.

The museum is a font from which we should all feed to learn more about man's inhumanity to man. From the sketches of the wartime artists to the resources of the Changi University (named after the informal education system established by the POWs during imprisonment) to the recreated Changi Chapel (a symbolic replica of the primitive churches and chapels that the POWs and civilian internees built during imprisonment)this place serves as an education reminding us of the many who have made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can live as we do today. Everyone should visit this place!

In the Battle for Singapore the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were the last detachment to leave Malaya marching across the causeway with the bagpipes playing Highland Laddie.

With the final surrender signed in the boardroom of the American owned Ford factory, so began the Japanese occupation when for example the Trishaw was introduced to the cities streets in a bid to save oil.

We must however remember that there are always two sides to a story and the Western Allies had been interfering in Japanese affairs since the end of World War One, economically threatened as they were by Japanese expansion in China for example.

I remember rushing all the way there (to the official surrender ceremony). I was not going to miss it for the world. We cheered the British and jeered at the Japanese. I felt great. It was as if I had started living all over again...so wrote Heng Chiang Ki in the Straits Times of September 11th 1995...just six years later to the day the world was again plunged into turmoil and from that day to this a sense of living was lost.

Despite the continuing stupidity of man the power of human faith endures. For three and a half years life was to be a constant struggle against humiliation, loss of freedom, hunger and disease. Yet it is in times of adversity such as these that we find the hero and the inspiration inside ourselves.

In the Changi Chapel I learned about Tsuru. According to Japanese legend anyone folding 1000 paper cranes will have their wish come true. Sadako Sasaki began this process hoping to find a cure for the Leukaemia she contracted as a result of the radiation fallout following the dropping of Little Boy (the atomic bomb) on Hiroshima. Whilst in her hospital ward, and on seeing the suffering of the other children she wished for world peace and an end to suffering. As such since World War Two Tsuru has become a symbol of world peace.

I enjoyed lunch at the Bark Café at the museum before heading back into the city to continue my investigations of Singapore.

I took an evening stroll along the Singapore River through the ultra trendy Clarke Quay and passing the Central Fire Station enroute to Raffles I had to do a double take to check I wasn't back in Eastbourne.

My journey as I said was to that icon of Singapore Raffles Hotel.

The venue is spectacular particularly as it is decorated for Christmas. I am determined not to let the robbers of South America prevent me from enjoying all this journey has to offer and skint as I am, I am dining in the Tiffin Room on North Indian Cuisine.

The Raffles Tiffin Room was opened in 1892 and run by the Sarkies brothers in Commercial Square, now known as Raffles Place. It was a grand and popular restaurant seating up to 200 people with punkahs to keep the place cool. When the restaurant closed down around 1910, the Sarkies carried on the tradition of serving their delicious Tiffin Curry from Raffles Hotel's Main Dining Room, later re-named the Tiffin Room.

Tiffin Curry traces its origins to India, when men would go to work with their lunches conveniently packed in a tiffin carrier. This three-tiered container usually comprised rice or chapati, a vegetable dish and a tasty curry prepared by wives or servants. When the British first came East, they adopted the same practice as they preferred to eat hygienic, home-cooked meals. The curry, however, was modified so that it would be less spicy. Through the years, Tiffin Curry evolved into a luncheon spread which was served in grand hotels and the tiffin room in Singapore. This often consisted of curry and side-dishes of eggs, chicken, prawns, aubergines, pickles and mango chutney: accompanied by rice, Indian breads or crackers.

Speaking of crime...Singapore prides itself on being almost completely crime free and its so clean you could eat your dinner off the pavements.

I am having the time of my life. I have always loved the East and I am so glad to be back here. It will take a lot for this period not to be the highlight of this trip.

This was arguably the nicest curry I have ever had; its certainly the most expensive and without a doubt the most sumptuous!

In my life I have been lucky enough to dine in and stay in some of the world's greatest hotels and no hotel has ever come near the Grand Hotel in Eastbourne for quality...but I have got to admit that even those high standards have been surpassed by the service at Raffles, right down to knowing your name and addressing you as "Mr William".

My waiter, Naufal (who is studying engineering but wants to work in the hotel industry) could teach many hoteliers a thing or two about service.

Singapore seems to have all that Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong have, but there is no doubt that I have never felt as safe anywhere in the world!!

Personally I have gone from the lowest low and now I seem to be on the highest high. I was almost ready to quit this project but now more than ever I have the strength to go on.

Naufal even presents me with a Mango Lassi as a gift. This is a traditional Indian yoghurt drink that aids food digestion. I have had such a nice time and I even got to meet with the beautiful lady chef Bhawani...what a day!