 Fu |  Lu |  Shou |
Haw Par Villa was a place I loved to explore with my parents as a child. I remember all the scary demons of hell best, together with a tiger I got to ride on. The park, originally called "Tiger Balm Gardens", was built in 1937 by the Burmese-Chinese brothers Aw Boon Haw (in Mandarin, Wu Wen Hu ) and Aw Boon Par (Wu Wen Pao), the developers of Tiger Balm, as a venue for teaching traditional Chinese values. They moved their business from Burma (Myanmar) to Singapore in 1926 and purchased the site in 1935.
 Memorial for the Aw Family  The laughing Buddha gets alot of tummy rubs as people believe it to be lucky if they rub his tummy. | As an adult, my forays there were few and far in between, but nothing prepared me for the state that it is in now. The statues were fading, there were cracks in the floors, walls and algae had all but eaten up the entire pond. But still, it has its charms. Bringing my friend from Thailand there, we had a lot of fun strolling through the park and taking photos with the amazing collection of statues. Everything looks smaller and shorter now, perhaps because I've also grown a lot taller. I enjoyed looking at the gates of hell, and this time, it did not frighten me. No longer would I get nightmares about the men being sawed in half nor their tongues being cut out. I've really grown up! It was really easy to get there! Hop onto the circle line ( the yellow line! ) and stop at Haw Par Villa. The moment you walk out of the MRT, you'll see Har Par Villa. If you can't find your way, use the application, How2Go - it's free and it works as its name says. Entrance is FREE, so this makes it a wonderful historical park filled with fresh air and in the evenings, you will get to see a few joggers too. Click on Read more for more photos taken at Haw Par Villa and a of history too. Open from 9am - 7pm, you have plenty of time to explore the sprawling park. |
 If you would like to find out a little more about the history of Haw Par Villa, how Tiger Balm was created and more, click here for a direct link to Haw Par's website. From just two brothers making and selling Tiger Balm, it has grown into a huge public listed company with investments in Asia. | This photo is for my friend who absolutely adores the Goddess of Mercy. She looks really beautiful, and against the background of the sky, pretty fitting too. Also known as Guan Yin, she is one of the park's bigger draws. Haw Par Villa is filled with statues, some collected while others created by the creator of Tiger Balm. In fact, this place used to be named Tiger Balm Gardens. One of the 3 sites built, it is the only site in the world to remain intact as park. The other 2, one in Hong Kong and the other in Fujian, have since been redeveloped. Singapore, fortunately, decided to preserve the Tiger Balm Gardens in Singapore, though the Tourism Board lost 30 over million dollars over a ten year period when it was turned into a theme park briefly. Now, it has been reinstated, and the gaudy theme ride additions removed. I quite like this better, as it feels more real. It is really lovely in the evening, just before twilight, and one can stroll around, reading about the Dioramas and statues.   |
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