Haw Par Villa

For other gardens of this name see Tiger Balm Garden

Haw Par Villa

Haw Par Villa (Chinese: 虎豹別墅; pinyin: Hǔ Bào Biéshù) is a theme park located along Pasir Panjang Road, 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.

History

The park, originally called "Tiger Balm Gardens", was built in 1937 by the Burmese brothers Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par, 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.

In 1988, the Singapore Tourism Board took charge of the Tiger Balm Gardens and renamed it "Haw Par Villa Dragon World". The "Haw Par" in the park's name are based on the Aw brothers' personal names - "Haw" and "Par", which literally mean "tiger" and "leopard". The dioramas and statues were restored, while plays, acrobatic displays, and puppet shows were organised and held there. The management imposed entrance fees but the high fees discouraged visitors, so the management incurred a loss of S$31.5 million after 10 years. The park management made profit during its first year of operations after renovations in 1994, broke even in 1995, but started making losses over the next three years and was forced to provide free entry in 1998. In March 2001, the Singapore Tourism Board renamed it "Tiger Balm Gardens" and entrance fees dropped. The park is now open every day from 9am to 7pm and admission is free.

Attractions

The best known attraction in Haw Par Villa is the Ten Courts of Hell, which features gruesome depictions of Hell in Chinese mythology and Buddhism. This attraction used to be set inside a 60-metre long trail of a Chinese dragon but the dragon has been demolished, so the attraction is now covered by grey stone walls.

Other major attractions include dioramas of scenes from Journey to the West, Fengshen Bang, The Twenty-four Filial Exemplars, Legend of the White Snake, Romance of the Three Kingdoms; statues of mythological figures such as the Laughing Buddha and Guanyin, and historical personages such as Jiang Ziya, Su Wu and Lin Zexu; the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, and others. There are also monuments dedicated to the Aw brothers and their parents.

Transport

The Circle Line station, Haw Par Villa MRT Station (CC25), located next to it, opened on October 8, 2011 along with the rest of Stage 5 of the Circle Line.

The following bus services pass by the Villa along Pasir Panjang Road:

Service	Between	And	Notes
SBS Transit Trunk Services
10	Tampines Bus Interchange	Kent Ridge Bus Terminal
30	Bedok Bus Interchange	Boon Lay Bus Interchange
51	Hougang Central Bus Interchange	Jurong East Bus Interchange	Wheelchair Accessible Bus Service (WAB) Euro III Euro IV
143	Toa Payoh Bus Interchange	Jurong East Bus Interchange	Wheelchair Accessible Bus Service (WAB) Euro III
200	Buona Vista Bus Terminal	Kent Ridge Bus Terminal (Loop)
SBS Transit Fast Forward Services
30e	Bedok Bus Interchange Singapore Science Park II	Singapore Science Park II Bedok Bus Interchange	AM Peak PM Peak
SMRT Buses Trunk Services
188	Choa Chu Kang Bus Interchange	HarbourFront Bus Interchange	Euro V

The following bus services pass by the Villa along West Coast Highway:

Service	Between	And	Notes
SBS Transit Trunk Services
175	Clementi Bus Interchange	Lorong 1 Geylang Bus Terminal
SMRT Buses Trunk Services
176	Bukit Panjang Bus Interchange	Bukit Merah Bus Interchange
SMRT Buses Premium Services
589	Sunset Way	Fullerton Road

See also

Media related to Haw Par Villa at Wikimedia Commons

• Tiger Balm Garden (Hong Kong)
• Hwa Par Children Playground, in Thailand

External links

Library resources
About Haw Par Villa
Resources in your library Resources in other libraries

• AsiaObscura photos from park
• Your Singapore website
• The Aw Boon Haw Family Business