# Haw Par Villa



## The Lone Groover (Jan 6, 2015)

Just returned from a trip to Singapore, where I was put onto this place by a friend who lives there. It was/is a theme park built by the brothers who made a fortune out of Tiger Balm. The grounds, pathways, loos etc are maintained by someone, and security guards are around, yet the fabric of the place appears to be sliding into disrepair. Part of the grounds have been boarded up and falling into real disrepair, whilst the main exhibits are just, well, going tatty I guess. Some of the friezes are grotesque and bloodthirsty - Edgar Allen Poe would be proud of them!

DSC_1781 by m6pnr, on Flickr

DSC_1780 by m6pnr, on Flickr

DSC_1851 by m6pnr, on Flickr

DSC_1850 by m6pnr, on Flickr

DSC_1849 by m6pnr, on Flickr

DSC_1823 by m6pnr, on Flickr

DSC_1821 by m6pnr, on Flickr

DSC_1812 by m6pnr, on Flickr

DSC_1787 by m6pnr, on Flickr

DSC_1782 by m6pnr, on Flickr

DSC_1762 by m6pnr, on Flickr

DSC_1749 by m6pnr, on Flickr

DSC_1839 by m6pnr, on Flickr

DSC_1837 by m6pnr, on Flickr

DSC_1834 by m6pnr, on Flickr

DSC_1830 by m6pnr, on Flickr
DSC_1778 by m6pnr, on Flickr


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## krela (Jan 6, 2015)

Yep, you just won the award for creepiest location on the forum.

Thanks for posting!


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## HughieD (Jan 6, 2015)

Yup - one of the more bizarre locations I've seen!


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## flyboys90 (Jan 6, 2015)

How macabre! no wonder its closed it must have scared everyone off but you got some great photos!


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## BikinGlynn (Jan 6, 2015)

brilliant love it!


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## perjury saint (Jan 6, 2015)

*Cool that is!!*


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## UrbanX (Jan 7, 2015)

Nice one! That is definitely up there on the creepiness! 
Hats off to you, there isn't much derelict in Singapore. 
I love the trespassing sign, I have another one from Singapore of a trespasser being shot, I'll have to dig it out! 
Cheers for sharing!


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## uklimey1234 (Jan 7, 2015)

I visited the place in the late 1980's and it was still going strong. Unfortunately the decline of this place is an example of the Disneyfication of Singapore. All the places that made it interesting like Serangoon Road and the Long Bar at Raffles have now been sanitized beyond belief. 

Instead of eating from the stalls of street hawkers people now flock to Burger King. McDonalds and TGI Fridays and all the dodgy bars and nightclubs off Orchard Road have been replaced by 'theme bars' that wouldn't be out of place in LA or Florida.

The best example is Sentosa Island. It used to be a great place for an Urbexer as you had to catch a ferry to get there and then hike out to the abandoned military installations where you could still find both British and Japanese fire bases and pillboxes. When I went there in 2006 I might as well have been in an Orlando theme park. It wasn't even an island any more as they had built a causeway and monorail


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## The Lone Groover (Jan 8, 2015)

uklimey1234 said:


> I visited the place in the late 1980's and it was still going strong. Unfortunately the decline of this place is an example of the Disneyfication of Singapore. All the places that made it interesting like Serangoon Road and the Long Bar at Raffles have now been sanitized beyond belief.
> 
> Instead of eating from the stalls of street hawkers people now flock to Burger King. McDonalds and TGI Fridays and all the dodgy bars and nightclubs off Orchard Road have been replaced by 'theme bars' that wouldn't be out of place in LA or Florida.
> 
> The best example is Sentosa Island. It used to be a great place for an Urbexer as you had to catch a ferry to get there and then hike out to the abandoned military installations where you could still find both British and Japanese fire bases and pillboxes. When I went there in 2006 I might as well have been in an Orlando theme park. It wasn't even an island any more as they had built a causeway and monorail



It's a real curate's egg of a place. There's evidence of recent renovation, and the park is still open, free of charge, to the public, though we were the only Westerners we saw whist we were there. Bizarre, grotesque and definitely unusual!


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## LittleOz (Jan 8, 2015)

That looks like a lot of fun. Great to see something so different, thanks for posting.


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## brickworx (Jan 8, 2015)

Odd in the extreme... Love it!


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