Changi Murals

When me, Wiseley and Yew Pheng visited the Changi Museum, I was especially amazed by the Changi Murals. They were drawn by a POW known as Stanley Warren. He drew five murals in the Robert Barracks back during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore. The first was called "The Nativity", the second was the "The Ascension", the third was called the "The Last Supper ", the fourth "The Crucifixion" and the last "Saint Luke in Prison", which the completed version could not be seen in the Changi Musuem.

Background of the first mural :

The first mural to be painted by Stanley Warren, was that of the Nativity, or birth of Jesus Christ. On the left of the mural, Stanley painted each of the three wise men who presented gifts to the baby Jesus as being from different racial groups. Kneeling at the front is a Middle Eastern King, with a European King behind him, and a turbaned Oriental King at the rear. He later stated that if the bible had allowed a fourth king, he would have been painted as an African. The old shepherd bending over has his lips pursed, cooing at the child. The animals, with the exception of the red calf are moving towards the crib. The red calf has a little irreverently begun to move away, but as if by afterthought has turned its head towards the infant Jesus. The ox has the hump characteristic of the Asian variety. St. Joseph is throwing his hands in the air as if in astonishment. “We all laughed at that, including Padres Chambers and Pain”, remembered Stanley. The Madonna is portrayed in quite a traditional manner as Stanley wished her to be a familiar figure to the men. Stanley concentrated his effort on the head of the Virgin, working on expressing the greatest tenderness possible from the harsh media he was using. In the end he was satisfied that the refinement he achieved was the best he could do under the circumstances.
Stanley did not always agree with Padre Chambers about the murals. Their first disagreement concerned the caption for the Nativity mural. Stanley wanted to use the text from the 1611 Authorised version of the Bible, “Glory to God in the highest. On earth peace, goodwill to all men”. The Padre wanted the Vulgate translation, “Peace on earth to men of goodwill”. Stanley felt that the Vulgate translation gave the option of deciding who were men of goodwill, and who were not. For several days, artist and padre argued over this so fiercely that the padre was reduced to tears. In the end, Stanley gave way, and the words from the Vulgate translation were used.
Despite being desperately ill at times with dysentery, and thinking that he may well die, Stanley completed his mural in time for Christmas, one of the great Christian celebrations. He became quite ill after completing this mural and was unable to attend the Christmas service. From his bed in the ward above the Chapel, he listened to, and drew inspiration from, the carol singing from Chapel below, where the congregation overflowed onto the verandah and path outside.

Background of second mural:

After Christmas, Stanley’s health improved enabling him to start work on the second mural, The Ascension of Christ. The mural shows Christ exhorting his disciples to, “Go and teach the nations. I am with you”, an exhortation which follows the universal theme of the murals. Stanley painted this mural after the Nativity as he thought that if he should die before all the murals were completed, the two murals would show the beginning and end of Christ's time on earth. He felt that this was important.
Stanley said that The Ascension was the most freely painted of the five. It was completed, “at a fairly high speed... possibly two or three weeks”. The Mural shows Peter going forward towards Jesus, with the other disciples milling around. Stanley thought carefully about how he should portray each apostle, since he wanted to show each’s individuality, including weaknesses and failings. Peter is going forward to Christ, hand on heart, remembering that he had denied Christ three times. St John, ‘the Disciple Christ loved’, third from the right, jealous of his favour with Christ, is looking toward the viewer with a slightly aggressive attitude, as if he were telling us to keep our distance. On the extreme right is Thomas, the doubter. His hands are covering his face, and he is remembering that he had said. “Not until I put my hands into his side and my fingers his hand that I believe he has risen”.

Background of the third mural, "The Last Supper":

The fourth mural to be painted was that of the Last Supper. By this time Stanley was almost completely out of blue paint - he had only enough to use in a couple of places. This was the, “most personal” of the murals, but Stanley did not feel that it was an exciting one. The mural depicts Christ giving the very first Sacrament of Communion to his Apostles before his betrayal by Judas Iscariot, subsequent torture and crucifixion. In the caption, “This is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many”, Christ was telling of the suffering and death which he would soon endure.
Stanley’s portrayal of Christ was that of a towering figure, rather like the lighthouse on the small island of Pulau Pisang (Banana Island) where he had operated an artillery observation post. Christ has a white cape and halo resembling a lighthouse with the lamp illuminated. The Disciples and the table, jug and bowl represented rocks around the island. The table was painted from one in RAMC billets, and the jug and basin were like the aluminium ones that were used in the hospital wards. As a personal touch, the sandals were Stanley’s own. He thought that they were a form of a personal signature.

Background of "The Crucifixion":

Once the Mural of the Ascension had been completed, Stanley turned to the third mural. This was to depict the Crucifixion of Christ. He had a problem of scale with this mural because of the limited space he had to work with, so decided that an oblique design for the cross would be best.
Stanley chose slaves to crucify Christ in the painting, “after all, we don’t know the full details of who crucified Christ, merely they took him and crucified him”. The slaves in the painting wore only loincloths, and this was a direct reference to the prisoner’s own clothing. By painting slaves, Stanley inferred that the Japanese soldiers themselves were under orders when they carried out the many atrocities they were responsible for. Sometimes unwilling Indian Army POW were forced to carry out executions and torture for the Japanese. They, like the slaves, had to do what they were told.
The slave on the right is looking up compassionately at Christ on the cross as it is raised. He is feeling the real sorrow and regret of what he is being forced to do. As a Christian, Stanley was in this mural forgiving his captors for their mistreatment of POW. He once said that he was glad that he had been able to do that. He also recalled that the Japanese guards were very interested in this mural, coming regularly to watch its progress. He thought that they knew what it the Mural was about, even if they didn’t understand the words at the top of it, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do”. He also said that he had painted Jesus’ eyes closed as he felt that he had not the impertinence to look into eyes of Christ. The theme and design of this Mural were so powerful that when a small service was held in the chapel, the chaplain put his lectern immediately under it.

Last but not least, the story behind "Saint Luke In Prison"

The final mural, depicting Saint Luke, was painted at the request of Padre Chambers. It showed an aged Saint Luke in prison, writing for the fledgling Christian community. Saint Paul is by his side and an angel behind him. A Roman Centurion stands guard. The walls of the prison are broken down, and the bars are bent to show that the spirit cannot be contained. Christ's word would go out to the world despite imprisonment. Stanley had in his mind the words of the British poet Richard Lovelace, “Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage.....”.
Of all the murals, this was the one least liked by Stanley. He not only felt that it was far too heavy and grey, but he did not want to paint it in the first place. He would have preferred something more in keeping with the theme of the other murals, perhaps a scene from Christ’s active ministry. Padre Chambers, however, was insistent that a mural of Saint Luke should be in the chapel which was named after him. Stanley was sad that the padre imposed his views, and felt that this cast a slight shadow in their relationship. He offered to paint Luke raising a sick man, but the Padre rejected this as being too close to the situation of the prisoners in the hospital, something that Stanley understood. “So often, Padre Chambers walked with me and said, “You know, it's so hard to try and persuade men to live”. When you look at the suffering, you think death would be a most merciful release.... I know at times he was quite heart broken in the fact that he could do nothing except say a few kind words and give such comfort....”.
The harmonium, used to provide musical accompaniment for singing in the Chapel was placed under this mural.

The mural of St Luke in Prison was almost completely destroyed when the lower portion of the wall was demolished to make a link to the adjoining room. This happened when the Japanese took over the chapel to use as storage space. The picture above shows the damage. Other murals also suffered damage and some of this can be seen on an examination of them.
The picture at the top of the page is taken from a copy of Stanley’s original drawing showing how the mural originally appeared.

Stanley help to raise the morale of the POW living in the camp. Even though he was plagued by illness, he continued to help to paint the murals. I am really touched by what Stanley has done to help the POWs during the Japanese Occupation. I admire his spirit, which is the same as the sch motto, 自强不息, meaning to not give up till the end.