For inmates of Changi prison, life is designed to meet the simplest needs of existence. With no air conditioning and little air flow, the walls radiate the relentless Singapore heat. Possessions are stripped back to the bare minimum, and privileges are few and far between. Punishments regularly involve caning and other forms of violence. First-time offender Matthew is unusually optimistic. “At the onset of my incarceration I told myself I’d see the good in everything”, he explains. Yet not all inmates share his outlook. At 41 years old, Emmanuel has spent more of his life inside prison, than outside of it. His incarceration for drug possession has long separated him from his family. But is there such a thing as too harsh a set of conditions? Not according to maximum security officer Reuben Long. “It’s not harsh, we use the word spartan. We are making it spartan as a deterrent”. In Changi, officers are referred to as “captains of lives”, and promote the ideas of positive change. But is this the business of change, or the business of punishment?