The makers of Tiger Balm share Chinese fables with us all

I was drawn like a moth to the depiction of Haw Par Villa in travel books. This "renovated amusement park, now free" showed the "quirkier, stranger" side of Singapore. Awesome. It turns out that Haw Par Villa began as a park donated by two brothers. These two brothers were co-founders and co-owners of Tiger Balm, a fast-acting medicinal product that relieves headaches and other sundry disorders. They had invented the balm elsewhere but moved to Singapore and got big. They wanted to share their love of Chinese medicine and Chinese fables with everyone, and so Haw Par Villa was formed. Essentially, they commissioned the creation of untold numbers of life-size colorful characters to relate these stories to present-day visitors. The park had a short-lived midlife as a ride-based amusement park. Following the commercial failure of that incarnation, it was returned to its former state as a motherload of statues, presented free to the public.

When we went, it was largely deserted. It is also out of the way, on the southern coast. The park itself is split into different types of fables. Some tell stories about particular mythical characters. Others try to impart the right sense of morality into their audience.

For example, there are the eight immortals. Each immortal has a different strength (one was a flute). They are depicted here fighting evil beasts of the sea.

There was also this flying-limbed man. I did my best imitation.

We came across three gods: of happiness, of prosperity, and of longevity. The happiness god deserved a photo.

Everywhere we looked, there were Buddhas of different sizes and shapes. This particularly happy Buddha was walking across the water. Sahana was a big fan of these, always asking to see "another Buddha".

Finally, one main attraction of the park is the Ten Courts of Hell. This is where it most explicitly turns to moralizing. The exhibits, all located within a darkened tunnel, list a series of crimes and the required punishment in hell before a person could be reborn for their next life.

As an example, the third court of hell (called Yama and governed by King Songdi) specified that the crimes of ungratefulness, disrespect to elders, or escape from prison would be met with the punishment of having one's heart cut-out. Similarly, drug addicts and traffickers, tomb robbers, and those who urge people into crime and social unrest would be punished by being tied to a red hot copper plate and being grilled. The various crimes and punishments were vividly and graphically illustrated with half-sized figurines. The whole list is worth a read, so I've put photos of each of the ten courts at the bottom of this post.

Haw Par Villa lived up to its billing: it was a quirky and strange place. It was a little bit kitschy and highly colorful. Thanks, Tiger Balm brothers!