New World Amusement Park

New World Amusement Park was an entertainment venue along Jalan Besar featuring roller coasters, ferris wheels, and carnival attractions spread across its grounds. The grounds also hosted performance stages and game areas for different types of entertainment.

Two Chinese brothers, Ong Boon Tat and Ong Peng Hock, founded the park in 1923 as the first major amusement venue of its kind in the region. The site later transformed under different management and purposes during the Japanese occupation period.

The park served as a gathering place where people of different backgrounds came to watch wrestling matches, opera performances, and circus acts. These diverse shows reflected the cosmopolitan character of early Singapore entertainment.

The park was accessible to people from various income levels since entrance fees were low and individual attractions could be enjoyed separately. Visitors should expect longer waits during popular times, particularly on warmer days when attendance was highest.

During the Japanese occupation, the park was renamed Shin Segal and became a gambling venue that facilitated black market dealings. This unexpected transformation shows how entertainment venues completely changed their function under wartime conditions.