Pudu Prison

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An overhead view of the Pudu Prison complex, as seen from the Berjaya Times Square.
An overhead view of the Pudu Prison complex, as seen from the Berjaya Times Square.

The Pudu Prison was built in 1895 as a prison in Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur area. As such, it was used to house criminals including drug offenders and was a location for administering corporal punishment through rotan caning.

After the fall of Singapore, during World war II, the Japanese occupation forces incarcerated many English, Australian and New Zealand prisoners there.

The prison was closed for several years following the 1986 execution of Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers, both Australian nationals, for the drug trafficking of heroin. It was reopened in early 2004 for a short time as a museum.

The cells were horrific, each equipped with a window only the size of a shoebox. Ironically, the prison also features murals painted on the walls circling the compound, depicting scenes of nature. These murals were painted by the prisoners who used over 2,000 litres of paint to accomplish the task. There are very few sentient beings depicted in the murals, though.

It is no longer used as a prison and while it was once open as a museum, it is currently a police station and can be viewed only from the outside. (A clear view is obtained from the monorail train between Imbi and Hang Tuah stations.) Currently, it serves as a day-holding facility for prisoners attending court hearings. It is proposed to build a low security prison on the site for drug abusers in the future.

There are rumours that Pudu Prison is haunted. There have been reports of a strange Indian man walking the halls of the prison and disappearing around the corner. Screams have been heard from rooms where hangings have taken place, and there are certain areas of the prison that are far colder than others. Russell Lee, the author of the book series True Singapore Ghost Stories included a story of a prisoner in Pudu Prison in one of his books. The prisoner reported hearing screaming from the rotan caning area, and he also heard the story that one prisoner committed suicide in order to avoid being caned. Supposedly his ghost stops the last stroke of the cane being given, and the prisoner personally reported this experience happening to him. According to several websites, the reason that Pudu Prison is being turned back into a prison for low-security prisoners is because no-one would buy it as for commercial property because of the hauntings.

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