HAW PAR VILLA
With more than 1,000 sculptures and dioramas depicting Chinese mythology – particularly the fabled tales surrounding the concept of hell, karma and retribution, Haw Par Villa is Singapore’s largest outdoor art gallery. Completed in 1937, Haw Par Villa was millionaire Aw Boon Haw’s gift to his younger brother, Aw Boon Par. The name “Haw Par Villa” is a portmanteau of the names of the Burma-born ethnic Chinese Aws.
By the 1940s, Haw Par Villa had become known to be the opulent Art Deco house along Pasir Panjang Road with saucer-shaped domes resembling an astronomy observation tower. The garden around the villa was named Tiger Balm Garden after the famous ointment made by the Aws. As there were few open public spaces in Singapore then, the brothers opened Tiger Balm Garden to the public free of charge. The villa became badly damaged during World War II, and was subsequently demolished by Boon Haw after Boon Par died in 1944. Although the house was never rebuilt, the name “Haw Par Villa” stuck.
In the ’60s, Boon Par’s son Aw Cheng Chye added sculptures and dioramas of an international flavour such as sumo wrestlers and a Statue of Liberty to Tiger Balm Garden. In the ’80s, the Aw family donated the garden to the state. In the ’90s, it was turned into a theme park called Dragon World that closed in 2001. In 2015, award-winning heritage specialist Journeys took over its management. Since then, the firm has been working to bring back the park’s glory days, and recently opened a new attraction named Hell’s Museum. The attraction will be dedicated to exploring ideas, concepts and perspectives about death and the afterlife across different civilisations, religions and cultures.