"One has to forgive people but this serves as a reminder of how the people suffered then," Chandler, 71, said while on a recent tour of the outskirts of the prison, which was home to more than 50,000 prisoners during Japan's World War II occupation of Singapore.

The Japanese kept thousands of Australian, British and other Allied soldiers, as well as huge numbers of local Chinese, in terrible conditions in and around Changi prison, which was originally designed to house just 600 inmates.

It was one of the many notorious prisoner of war (POW) camps the Japanese ran at the time and has become one of the most important monuments in Southeast Asia for Allied war veterans and their families, with more than 37,000 people visiting last year.

But an announcement that Changi prison, which still serves as a jail, will be demolished next year to make room for a bigger security facility in the land-scarce city-state has stirred old passions and led to fears a vital reminder of the past will be lost.

Simon Goh, the manager of Changi Musuem, which lies about one kilometer (half a mile) from the old prison, said the jail had become a "physical icon" that represented the suffering of all POWs in Singapore during World War II.

"If you tear it down, what have you got to tell people of what happened in Changi during World War II? It is hard to imagine because it is not physically there," he said.

Tom Uren, a former federal Australian minister who was a POW at Changi, reflected the sentiments of many war veterans during an interview on Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio recently.

"There's going to be a lot of heartburn, not only of Australian soldiers, but certainly some British soldiers as well," Uren said.

Australian politicians initially lobbied hard to save the prison with Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, whose father was a POW in Changi, and Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson making representations to the Singapore government.

"Changi remains a vital part of the memories and history of Australian POWs in the Pacific. The name Changi has become synonymous for Australians with the suffering of our POWs at the hands of the Japanese during World War II," Australian Veterans Affairs Minister Dana Vale said this year.

But after receiving assurances from the Singapore government that some sections of the prison will be kept for historical reasons, the mood in Australia has officially shifted to quiet acceptance.

Vale's spokeswoman, Rachel Thompson, told AFP that Singapore had "indicated considerable willingness" to preserve historically significant parts of the prison, such as the original wall and the prison gate.

The Singapore government has not outlined publicly what exactly will be retained but said last month it would take into account the concerns.

"We know that the Changi Prison holds a special place in the collective memory of our people, as well as many Australians," the government said in a statement.

"(But) for reasons of space, we need to urgently re-develop the prison.

"Nevertheless, we will do so sensitively to maintain our links with the past."

Major-General Bill Crews, the president of Australia's premier war veterans group, the Returned and Services League, told AFP that ex-soldiers "understand the Singapore government's imperative for redevelopment".

"We have made representations that we believe have been properly considered so the outcome is quite acceptable," Crews said.

His sentiment was echoed by RSL member Cyril Gilbert, 83, who was incarcerated in Changi prison for 18 months during World War II.

"We can't hold progress but we would like the entrance that we marched through in and out thousands of times to be kept," Gilbert told AFP by phone from Australia.

"That's very much reasonably what we can expect them to retain."

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