Hey kids, do you wanna be traumatized for your whole life? Great, hop on a bus and we are off to the park Haw Par Villa. Place where your biggest fears come true and you get to see the horror of wild imagination. The base for children to stop sleeping at night and obey their parents with no questions asked. The theme park of Chinese mythology, folklore, and legends has some very disturbing images on display.
Haw Par Villa History
Haw Par Villa is located on the Pasir Panjang Road, Singapore, and was built in 1937 by brothers Aw Boon, the developers of Tiger Balm. Back in a time when there was no Television, this was a great attraction. On the top of the hill Boon Haw built his villa with a huge garden, family’s large lawn, tennis courts, and a swimming pool. After Boon Par’s death in 1944, the park was under his brother’s control. Boon Haw died only 10 years later and property got to his nephew Aw Cheng Chye. He built the so-called “International Corners” that were filled with sculptures representing the cultures of the world. After his death in 1971 Aw family didn’t do any major changes to this park. Anyway, the biggest fame this park got between the 1970’s and 1980’s. The park got annually 1 million visits. In 1985, the Singapore government acquired the villa through the Land Acquisition Act. Aw family later donated all the statues to the nation of Singapore.
The Singapore Tourist Promotion Board took over the management of the park and leased it to International Theme Parks Ltd (ITP). Haw Par Villa renovation was more than needed. In 1986 the ITP announced an investment of $30 million to modernize Haw Par Villa theme park. Their vision was to create »oriental Disneyland«. Well, yeah, sure if you like to attract kids, instead of scaring the shit out of them. Interest in this park was lower every year, so ITP incurred heavy losses in operating the park. In 2001 they gave up its management rights.
STB thereafter hired Orient Management to operate Haw Par Villa as a free park. In 2005 they opened Hua Song Museum, which cost S$7.5-million, and was dedicated to the Chinese diaspora. Museum wasn’t working positive, so they closed its doors in 2012. in 2014, STB organized a festival, where gathered more than 12,000 people. In the following months, they invited local artists to revive statues and keep this place maintained. Today their mission is to introduce learning journeys in the park for schoolchildren and provide guided tours. Haw Par Villa 80th Anniversary Fiesta, in 2017 attended over 14,000 people, what means the interest in this park is still alive.
How does it look like
Here, you can find beautiful landscape and over a thousand sculptures, which need some serious restoration. Or, on the second thought, rather not. With this faint look, this place looks even more haunting.
The park is well known for its exhibit on the 10 courts of hell, which depict punishments such as being thrown into a volcanic pit and tongue slitting for crimes like lying, cheating, or being disrespectful to elders. The 10 circles of hell are the ones that I can still see in front of my eyes if I choose to. But who wouldn’t second guess the forever popular topic of life after death? Does hell even exist? What is it like down there? Well, if it’s really down there?
In my past I had my moments I’m not proud of and I’m sure that there are some cloudy days in my future. However, after seeing the detailed presentation of how dark angels torture sinners it’s better to take a deep breath before the anger takes over. I sure don’t want to be thrown on the spike tree or chopped into pieces before the swim in the boiling river. To be clear, these options aren’t the worst ones.
But wait! There is more. It is not all about horror and brutality. To calm down your soul you will proceed to the nice garden with some titties and cute animals. There is also a pond with a little temple in the middle and chicken head lady. Please don’t give up. Just continue your Sunday walk through this park and let the imagination do all the work.
Haw Par Villa Ticket Fee and useful information
Well, Haw Par Villa maybe explains why the people of Singapore are so polite and in general fair. It was common to have a school excursion here. And it seems this style of education was successful. Nowadays, you can only take a phone away from your kid and they are offended and traumatized. So, this park nowadays has fewer visitors, just the curious few tourists or odd Singaporeans searching for nostalgia. So, if you are looking for something different and you like WTF moments, this park is a must see. It is also free of fee. Anyway, you paid your debt just by walking in…
To get here is the best option to use MRT, which stops Haw Par Villa MRT station, and is directly at the entrance of the park. Just make sure you have your lunch before, due here is not much food options.
Haw Par Villa Gallery
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