Hell and its makeovers

JEYA Ayadurai loved everything about history – he’d even defied his mother for it – but this was proving to be one of the biggest challenges he had ever taken on.

Was it even possible for Haw Par Villa, Singapore’s most bizarre theme park, to once again see success that matched its glory days? Ayadurai and his team of heritage devotees must have believed so, or they wouldn’t have paid the government for a shot at revamping the place.

Haw Par Villa’s 85-year history is littered with drama and triumphs and failures. It had everything going for it in the 1950s and 60s. No television. No air-conditioned shopping malls. A population craving entertainment and willing to travel for it.