by Ethan Tait
History
Haw Par Villa is a theme park located in Pasir Panjang Road, teaching people about Chinese morals and culture. It is typically referred to as Hell’s Museum. First established as a villa by the Aw brothers, the developers of Tiger Balm in 1935. During WWII, it was bombed by the Empire of Japan and was occupied. Between 1937 and 1954, Boon Haw commissioned statues and dioramas depicting Chinese legends and culture for the villa, eventually turning into a theme park. During the 1950s and 1960s, it became extremely popular among Singaporeans to visit. However, as the course of time passed, the park receives less visitors per year. But why? We will be discussing that in this article.
The Oath of the Peach Garden, a fictional event in the historical novel of ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’ where Zhang Fei, Liu Bei, and Guan Yu became blood brothers.
Issues Raised
There are two main reasons why Haw Par Villa is receiving less visitors.
The first is that it is old. At the time, Haw Par Villa was indeed popular among Singaporeans, but its popularity began to decrease over time. This is justified by a study in 2015, which reviewed 25 tourist guide books and out of 25, only 1 book elaborates Haw Par Villa in detail. This is due to online reviews pointing out that some of the statues are in poor condition and thus, the park is seen as an archaic ground of attraction. It is being overshadowed by more popular and modern attractions such as Universal Studios, Wild Wild Wet, etc. Said attractions qualify for the more orthodox definition of a theme park where they have rides and show. Whereas Haw Par Villa is considered more of an outdoor museum than a theme park.
The second reason is more controversial and it has to do with the 10 courts of hell attraction. For those who do not know, the 10 courts of hell or Diyu is somewhat similar to Hell in Christianity. You do get punished for immoral and amoral actions such as murder, not respecting the elderly, and robbery. In Haw Par Villa, the 10 courts of hell are presented in gory detail. Depictions of decapitations and mutilations are exemplified to show sinful acts. The point of all of these graphic features is to educate kids to have a moral compass in order to have a better afterlife in heaven, instead of suffering in Diyu for their sins. This garnered criticism from parents and liberals claiming that it is too gruesome for children to see.
The Future of Har Paw Villa
So, what are the outcomes of Haw Par Villa?
One possibility is the theme park shutting down due to the overshadowing of other major competitor theme parks such as Universal Studios.
Another could be integrating modern technology with the story telling of the dioramas and host stories about Chinese mythology and literature. One interesting fact to note is that the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) attempted to use animatronics to create an ‘orential Disneyland’ in an attempt to restore Singapore ‘orential mystique’ in the 1980s. Furthermore, the park was even renamed to ‘Haw Par Villa Dragon World’ in 1988.
These changes would have worked if the high entry ticket prices were not implemented. Initially, when the park reopened after said renovations in 1994, it made a great deal of profit. However, as time went on, the high entry tickets caused people to be discouraged to visit. This resulted in $31.5 million SGD lost over 10 years. In 1998, they made the entry fee free of charge, with the exception of the 10 courts of hell. For now, all we can do is just visit in order to help Haw Par Villa sustain its business in Singapore, or we can be slothful and not visit.