Manufacturing Soap

Apart from producing 250 pounds of soap per week, the men were also able to utilize some of the stills to produce a beer from rice and pineapple rind which was also distilled.

This image of Des Bettany’s artwork has been reproduced with permission from the book ‘Don’t Ever Again Say “It Can’t Be Done”’ published by The Changi Museum, Singapore.

‘And with the palm oil and some potash from the boilers and a complex machine made of empty drums and stolen pipes, soap was made. A cake of good, soft soap for each man in the gaol, once a fortnight, to use under the showers.’
Source: The Naked Island by Russell Braddon; 1955 edition Pan Books Ltd, Pg 246