Long ago in the 1800s, this neighbourhood was a swampland inhabited by indigenous fishing communities. Chinese farmers also settled in this area to cultivate paddy fields and vegetable gardens. As Singapore developed, the wetlands gave way to a growing neighbourhood with new side streets and shophouses.

Fast forward two centuries, and the Jalan Besar you see today is a chaotic and diverse place. In a 15-minute walk down Desker Road to Sam Leong Road, migrant communities, Chinese clan associations, the vice trades, and sunset industries are interwoven across its hodge-podge architecture and back alleys.

It was here in this neighbourhood, at the height of a post-war economic boom that New World Amusement Park was born.

Archival images courtesy of the National Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board

The History Behind Our Experiences

In the 1920s, two business brothers Ong Boon Tat and Ong Peng Hock had a dream. They wanted to build a Singapore equivalent of a Shanghainese amusement park that offered attendees quality entertainment at the lowest possible price.

New World Amusement Park thus opened in 1923 with the vision ‘first-class amusement park for all classes’. With admission priced at 10 cents each, New World was more affordable than buying a radio and TV set, expensive status symbols in the 1920s and 1930s.

Archival images courtesy of the National Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board

In the New World, children took turns on the spinning tea cups, teenagers dared each other to ride the ghost train, young adults flirted with the dancers in the cabaret and older folks could listen to the opera with satays in hand. Boxing matches, the cabaret, the opera, amusement park rides, and a huge plethora of food - there was something for everyone of all ages.

It was also here that home-grown singers, dancers, athletes and icons were celebrated. Visitors could see heroes and icons of that time in person - whether it was Rose Chan, the "Queen of Striptease", or Felix the Boy (S. Siniah), whose tiny stature belied his powerful fists.

Archival images courtesy of the National Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board

Yet this colourful and complex space started its decline in the 1960s, when radio and TV became more affordable and widely accessible. Then came the air-conditioned shopping malls in the 1970s and 1980s, which sealed the park’s fate.

New World Amusement Park closed down in 1987, marking the end of a bygone era.

Today, City Square Mall and City Square Residences Condominium are situated where the park once stood.

Image from Rose Chan, No Bed of Roses: The Rose Chan Story by Cecil Ranjendra, 2013

Rose Chan: The Queen of Striptease

Arguably one of the biggest breakout stars of New World Amusement Park was the dancer Rose Chan, who is the source of inspiration for the character Rosa in the New World’s End experience.

Born into poverty in Malaysia, Chan had no formal education and entered into an arranged marriage at the age of 16. When the marriage fell apart, Chan sold her last gold bracelet in exchange for a train ticket to Singapore. Knowing the New World Cabaret was her ex-husband’s favourite haunt, she became a dancer there to spite him.

She rose quickly in fame and popularity, winning prizes in national championships, dancing at five different cabarets and even opening her own show, The Rose Chan Revue, which toured the whole of then-Malaya. The moniker “Queen of Striptease” came about due to a wardrobe malfunction at a show in Ipoh, Malaysia when her brassiere snapped.

In New World Amusement Park, Chan was able to overcome poverty and sexism to become a local heroine. At the New World cabaret, she was given the liberty and freedom to pursue success, and nothing but her beauty, talent and ambition mattered.

Image from Resilience Through Heritage I, Hotel New World, Book 5 of National Heritage Board’s E-Books Collection

Hotel New World Collapse: Singapore's Biggest Civil Disaster

On 15 March 1986 at 11:25 am, the six-storey Hotel New World which stood at the junction of Serangoon Road and Owen Road crumbled to dust without a single wall or column left standing.

Over five days, the Singapore Civil Defence Force, Singapore Police Force and volunteers scoured through the site looking for survivors. The disaster shocked and devastated the nation, including then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who said “The collapse of such a building is unprecedented”.

Image from AsiaOne

33 people died and 17 people were rescued.

Following the Hotel New World disaster, the government implemented the Building Control Accredited Checkers Act 1989. The collapse demonstrated the need for more stringent checks and standardised building regulations. This effectively accelerated Singapore’s trajectory towards the strict implementation of rules, regulations and control.