SAVING HAW PAR VILLA LEOPARD PAVE FRICIT

Can late-night raves and spooky themed events stop the park from fading into obscurity?

- Teo Kai Xiang

When was the last time you set foot in Haw Par Villa?

For many Singaporeans, their last visit to this Chinese mythology-inspired theme park was in their childhood as part of a school trip or during the park's heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, when its dioramas and amusement park rides welcomed a million visitors each year. Visitor figures plummeted to around 200,000 a year in the 2000s.

For a growing number, however, their most recent trip here was for an after-hours rave. Lawyer Shaktivel Arumugam, 29, is among a new generation rediscovering Haw Par Villa through events like Ice Cream Sundays, an outdoor electronic music rave.

"Before I went, I just thought of Haw Par Villa as the 10 Courts of Hell," he says.

Going to the rave opened his eyes to a Haw Par Villa more crowded than he had ever seen it, with more to offer beyond retro dioramas and morality tales in sculpture form.

"For Haw Par Villa to remain relevant, it definitely needs to embrace events like these," he adds.

The attraction is no stranger to reinvention, having gone through many transformations since it was built in 1937.

Its latest turn takes place under the park's current operator, heritage tour company Journeys, which began leasing the site from the state in 2015.

Journeys' director Jeya Ayadurai, 63, says the park now receives between 35,000 to 40,000 visitors each month. The company estimates that around 60 per cent are foreign tourists, with the remainder being local residents.

Under Journeys, the park's turn towards events courting a younger crowd has meant hosting music events like Noise Invasion, Haw Par Thrilla and Ice Cream Sundays, as well as its Halloween horror-themed event Haw Ror Villa.

"Our challenge was not the older generation, who is coming back to Haw Par Villa to reminisce, but to get the younger generation excited and interested," says Mr Ayadurai.