New World amusement park is opened

New World amusement park was one of Singapore’s earliest amusement parks. Founded by businessmen Ong Boon Tat and Ong Peng Hock, it was located on a 6-acre tract along Jalan Besar.^[1] The opening of the amusement park was attended by a number of prominent Chinese personalities including the founder of the Chinese Commercial Bank Lee Choon Guan and founder of the Straits Chinese Football Association Lim Kee Cheok, who gave a speech noting the park’s objective to provide entertainment to the masses.^[2]

Initially, New World had attractions such as a Ferris wheel, carousel and football field.^[3] By the time it celebrated its 10th anniversary in 1933, it had a ghost train ride, dodgem, an open-air cinema and also hosted boxing contests and Chinese dialect operas.^[4] In fact, New World had a number of venues for Chinese operas such as the teahouse style Bajiao Ting (Octagon Pavilion), the indoor Da Wutai (Great Stage) and the Riguang Tai (Sunshine Stage).^[5] The amusement park was also well-known for its cabaret shows and opened the first one in Singapore on 19 December 1929. The first show featured a company of 30 cabaret girls and vaudeville artistes who were considered “the cream of Manila” and personally picked by the park’s co-founder Ong Peng Hock.^[6] Subsequently, New World brought in cabaret girls from different ethnic groups and cities such as Hong Kong and Shanghai to serve a wider customer base.^[7] In 1938, New World replaced its cabaret with a bigger hall, which was also the first air-conditioned cabaret in Singapore.^[8] In addition, New World had a dancing hall called Bunga Tanjung that was popular among fans of the Malay dance joget.^[9] In 1938, the Shaw Brothers, who owned the three cinemas – Pacific, State and Grand Cinemas — of New World, took over the management of the amusement park.^[10]

After the Japanese Occupation, where it was turned into a gambling den, New World resumed its role as an entertainment centre for the masses by building a new open-air 4,500-capacity stadium in October 1947, as well as rebuilding the cabaret, which was damaged during the war, in December the same year.^[11] It became a launching pad for many celebrities of the time such as the queen of striptease Rose Chan, wrestlers King Kong alias Emile Czaya, strongman Ali Ahmad or Mat Tarzan, boxer Felix Boy alias S. Sinnah, and songbird Sakura Teng.^[12]

From the late 1960s, the popularity of New World began to wane due to the advent of television and shopping malls.^[13] In April 1987, the amusement park was sold to City Developments which redeveloped the site into City Square Mall and Residences in 2009.^[14]

References
1. Holden, P. (2004). At home in the worlds. In Bishop, R., et. al. (Eds.). Beyond description: Singapore space historicity (p. 87). London: Routledge. Call no.: RSING 307.1216095957 BEY; Song, O. S. (1984). One hundred years history of the Chinese in Singapore (pp. 110–113). Singapore: Oxford University Press. Call no.: RSING 959.57 SON-[HIS]
2. New Entertainment Centre. (1923, August 2). The Straits Times, p. 10.; The late Lim Kee Siew. (1921, September 3). The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, p. 3. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
3. A New Amusement Centre. (1923, July 28). The Straits Times, p. 10. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
4. Development of the New World. (1935, October 8). The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884–1942), p. 23. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; Lee, T. S. (2009). Chinese street opera in Singapore (pp. 32–35). Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Call no.: RSING 782.1095957 LEE
5. Lee, 2009, pp. 32–35.
6. The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884–1942), 8 Oct 1935, p. 23.
7. Chandy, G. (1980, April 28). Worlds of days gone by. New Nation, p. 9. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; Shaw Organisation. (2007). Amusement Parks. Retrieved December 15, 2015, from Shaw Theatres website: http://www.shaw.sg/sw_abouthistory.aspx?id=179%2087%2031%20147%2038%2038%2012%20236%2071%2085%2031%2059%2020%2092%20122%2069
8. Singapore’s latest cabaret. (1938, May 15). The Straits Times, p. 3. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
9. National Heritage Board. (2009). Jalan Besar: A heritage trail (p. 11). Singapore: National Heritage Board. Call no.: RSING 959.57 JAL-[HIS]
10. Singapore Cinema To Be Air-Conditioned. (1938, March 20). The Straits Times, p. 4. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
11. National Heritage Board, 2009, pp. 11–12; Stadium for New World. (1947, October 30). The Straits Times, p. 7. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
12. National Heritage Board, 2009, p. 12.
13. New Nation, 28 Apr 1980, p. 9.
14. CityDev outlines plans for New World site. (1992, October 13). The Business Times, p. 4; Rashiwala, K. (2005, June 8). CityDev scores another residential coup. The Straits Times, p. 2. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.