Tiger Balm Gardens
A less known tourist spot in Singapore is Haw
Par Villa. Built by the Tiger Balm
creators and Burmese-Chinese brothers Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par, the Tiger
Balm Gardens was built in 1937 to showcase Confucian values. Packed with statutes and dioramas teaching
people to do good, the park got turned into a theme at one point in the 1980s,
but recurring losses forced the management to cut out the fancy rides and the
park became free to everyone after the dioramas were restored in the late
1990s. It’s a bit sad walking through
the park knowing how grand it was when the wealthy family first opened the park
to the public, and what used to be roller coasters are now deserted grounds,
but the Ten Courts of Hell still draw visitors to imagine what hell looks like
in Chinese mythology.
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