What is Haw Par Villa?

• Built in 1937, Haw Par Villa was a privately owned mansion and garden (villa) in Singapore
• It belonged to Mr. Aw Boon Haw 胡文虎 (Tiger King 虎王) & his brother, Mr. Aw Boon Par 胡文豹
• The villa is sited at Pasir Panjang which used to be the seashore, but has since been reclaimed for port activities

What is special about Haw Par Villa?

• Everything
• The villa is fascinating with great scenery, lifelike statues & abound with Chinese legends & mythology
• Some statues are made by craftsmen from mainland China, while others have been said to be retrieved from the mountains & collected in the villa
• The statues and carvings are special no only for their construction, beauty & sheer number, they embody the essence of Chinese thoughts & mythology - many advise people towards good, harmony & support
• The carvings are not only standalone ones, but some have been made on the original buildings in the villa, such as the bathroom, kitchen & swimming pool
• There is something for everyone - the old like the scenery, the young like the maze of statues & the adults like the symbolism, carvings & atmosphere
• The history of the villa is also interesting - after Aw Boon Haw died in 1954, the villa was donated to the government for free public access, privatised in the 90's & finally open for free public access again in April 2001 with many changes done to the landscape
• The fate of the villa has the focus of much debate in ST & Internet

Can you tell us more about its owners?

• The owners were the Haw Par brothers, whose immense wealth was due to the popularity of the Tiger Balm brand of traditional medicine relieving pains
• Par got the medicine formula from a Chinese physician who asked that if Par made a fortune from this, he should help in charity
• The Haw Par brothers later improved upon the formula & with the marketing wizardry of Haw (Tiger King), the Tiger Balm became the most famous brand in the East Asia region in its age
• Rise of a Tiger
• Haw was superb in marketing, blending charity with promotion of the Tiger brand in the most conspicuous places; he used to drive his car decorated beautifully in the form of the Tiger & drove around town to the wonderment of the public; the four gates to the villa have the Tiger sign inscribed right in the centre of the gates
• Par died in 1944, & Haw in 1954 due to heart attack; memorial pagodas have been erected in the villa in memory of them for their wonderful creation, charity & the pain-relieving medicine
• Information

What is most striking in the villa?

• It can be none other than the Ten Courts of Hell 閆羅十殿
• The statues here depict the process & passage from death to punishment to reincarnation
• The eerie atmosphere & solemn messages conveyed through the statues are striking & thought-provoking
• However, I feel that some of the English explanations are rather mis-directed & have deviated from the intended meanings from the Chinese origins
• Information: Villa, Gardens

What are your feelings about the villa after visiting it?

• This used to be my childhood playground - the maze of statues for us to hide-and-seek & take photographs
• I returned for a visit during the first of privatisation when it was crowded with people paying the hefty entrance fees (which ran contrary to the original spirit of its builders Haw Par who intended it for charity)
• Finally I went back just last Saturday (16^th June 2001) & relived many of those golden memories like so many others I met along the way
• The villa, whether old or new, always touches me with that special feeling of An Old World 熟悉的老地方 I have always known within my heart for a long, long time