Built in 1937, Haw Par Villa was the brainchild of Aw Boon Haw of Tiger Balm fame. The Aw brothers opened the park to the masses as a recreational space for all communities in Singapore. In its heyday in the 1980s, Haw Par Villa was amongst the top 3 tourist attractions in Singapore. However, many Singaporeans have lost touch with it.
In 2014, SHC and its associate company, Journeys Pte Ltd (JPL), was engaged to be part of Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) 50th Anniversary in 2014, celebrating 50 years of tourism in Singapore, Tourism50. STB tasked SHC to research, design, conduct and produce talks, an original tour, exhibitions, and coloured booklets (in English and Mandarin) for the “Reliving Haw Par Villa’ Festival Project. The event was held over two weekends, 15 - 16 and 22 - 23 March 2014, and saw some 12,000 people visiting Haw Par Villa. This proved that Haw Par Villa still holds a special place in the hearts of Singaporeans, young and old. In 2015, JPL won the tender to manage Haw Par Villa, with the goal of reviving it to its former glory. From 2015 - 2017, a large JPL team worked closely with STB on extensive renovations. Renovations included electrical and plumbing works. Refurbishments and sculpture conservation works took place from Oct 2020 - Apr 2021. Works included enhanced night lighting and ventilation for the 10 Courts of Hell. Paying homage to the Aw brother’s legacy, JPL focused on programming to engage and educate the masses on the importance of Haw Par Villa and lessons that it holds. Under JPL’s management, visitorship increased significantly, reaching 350,000 pax in 2019, with 45,359 pax in Oct 2019 alone. The park shut down during the pandemic, with new programmes restarting in Oct 2021. Visitorship has since recovered to 35,000 pax per month. |
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