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Built in 1937 by the entrepreneurial and charismatic Aw Boon Haw, Haw Par Villa is the quintessential house of Chinese folklore. Described by various visitors as "fascinating, delightful, bizarre and entertaining", Haw Par Villa is like no other place in the world in the old days.
Statues and figurines replicate Chinese mythology characters like the Laughing Buddha and the Fu Lu Shou (Taoist deities). A must-see exhibit is the Ten Courts of Hell, featuring the ten steps of judgement before reincarnation. Literal and leaving nothing to the imagination, the statues and sets immortalise moral values and Chinese cultural heritage for generations to come.
Unfortunately, today there seems to be lack of interest as a tourist destination.
Haw Par Villa, Singapore
Haw Par Villa (Chinese: 虎豹別墅; pinyin: Hǔ Bà o Biéshù) is a theme park located along Pasir Panjang Road in Singapore. The park contains over 1,000 statues and 150 giant dioramas depicting scenes from Chinese mythology, folklore, legends, history, and illustrations of various aspects of Confucianism. During the 1970s and 1980s, the park was a major local attraction; it is estimated that the park then welcomed at least 1 million annual visitors, and is considered as part of Singapore's cultural heritage. As of 2018, under the park operator Journeys, efforts to revitalise the park are ongoing with the holding of themed events and the planning and construction of ancillary museums.
Burmese-Chinese brothers Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par, the developers of Tiger Balm, moved their business from Burma to Singapore in 1926. The site, which is in front of a small hill and faces the Singapore Strait, was deemed suitable based on considerations of feng shui, and was purchased in 1935. Between 1937 and his death in 1954 (when the park was declared public property), Boon Haw commissioned statues and dioramas in the park that served to teach traditional Chinese values.
In the 1950s and 1960s, before the advent of television and shopping malls, the park was a popular recreational destination for Singaporean families. Many Singaporean adults, in a 1995 survey, reported memories of visiting the park as a child and learning about Chinese folk history and morality.
Zhang Fei, Liu Bei and Guang Yu met in Zhou country and took the oath of fraternity, thus become sworn brothers from the Three Kingdoms during the late Eastern Han Dynasty at the Haw Par Villa theme park.
I sketched from the left of a long sketch. This is the tiger and I was trying to continue with the leopard in the afternoon but did not, may be another day. I will be back.
The dioramas display is a Chinese legend in the Tang Dynasty on the romance between a snake fairy, Bai Shu Zhen, and a mortal scholar.
Entrance to Haw Par Villa. This is part of the Tiger Balm Gardens in Singapore. Built between 1935-37, it's a theme park with diorama scenes from Chinese mythology and life.
Had our game at 720pm. dark as hell also had to go to 10 courts of hell some more. Creepy with all the statues.
good time to catch up n meet new friends. back to ameen for supper. then back to NUS for school bus like the old days but ended up trolled n took cab home:))
A sculptured buddha in the lotus position meditating. This is found at the Har Par Villa park. It is quite fascinating that whoever built this had considered the shadow and light as it was cast from the overhead sun. 28 shots merged into a panorama to create the bokeh panoramic look (Brenizer method).
Kids reading a book on a tiger statue.
If you want to see a lot of pictures taken in Haw Par Villa, have a look at my gallery.