By now, 1945, the Japanese had learned to leave control of the camp to the prisoners. The Japanese gave orders and the officers were responsible for enforcing them. If the camp gave no trouble, it got none. To ask for food was trouble…To ask for anything was trouble.
-- Narrator (Preface paragraph Page 12, paragraph 4)

Importance: In a short untitled preface, the narrator describes how things work in the Japanese run POW camp at Changi Prison, which is located in the dense jungle on the eastern tip of Singapore Island. Built before the start of World War Two to hold 2,000 prisoners, by 1945 the Japanese have crowded over 8,000 POWs into the camp. There is only a small contingent of Japanese and Korean guards at the camp since the remote location means that a man would have nowhere to go were he to escape, and the Japanese leave the enforcement of camp rules to the prisoners themselves.

That’s where...
-- Lieutenant Grey (Chapter 1 paragraph Page 14, paragraph 7)