Haw Par Villa reopens after nine months of closure for upgrading

Local attraction Haw Par Villa has reopened this month, following a nine-month closure for upgrading.

The landmark was closed in October last year to restore sculptures such as the Main Arch, as well as to enhance the night lighting.

However, The Courts of Hell, which depicts in detail the punishments in the afterlife that await the souls of sinners, remains closed till October this year. It will be fully air-conditioned when it reopens, as part of a new attraction called Hell’s Museum.

A new restaurant will also open in October.

The operating hours for the theme park is from 9am to 10pm, with the last entry 9.30pm. Admission is free.

Haw Par Villa was once known as Tiger Balm Gardens. Lovingly built by Myanmar-born businessman Aw Boon Haw in 1937 for his brother, Aw Boon Par, the park was named after the Tiger Balm medical ointment that the siblings’ father had created.

The cultural park is home to over 1,000 statues and 150 dioramas, depicting surreal scenes from legendary works of Chinese literature such as Journey To The West, Madame White Snake, and the stories of the Eight Immortals.

In its heyday in the 1980s, Haw Par Villa attracted more than a million visitors a year.