In Singapore, out west a little ways, there is an old estate called Haw Par Villa. It is a house and property originally built and owned by the Aw brothers, founders of the 'Tiger Balm" company. Today the villa is a tourist attraction filled with hundreds of brightly colored concrete statues depicting characters and scenes from Chinese mythology (along with purely surreal scenes like that pictured here of a giant rat in a purple business suit and speaking on the telephone).The most notable attraction at the Villa is the exhibit of the Ten Courts of Hell. This is a building you walk through with rooms depicting the torture an misery taking place in each of the ten levels of hell. Signs along the walls describe the moral crimes that lead to the gruesome punishments depicted in the statues. Singapore parents bring their children to the exhibit to help remind them of how to behave.
It was an interesting trip. A very unusual place. I enjoyed the strangeness and surreality of it. Here is a link to a Picasa slide show with the gruesome images.
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| Haw Par Villa, Singapore, July 2009 |
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