haw par swimming pool

the site of the former haw par swimming pool

according to my 80-year old walking kaki, haw par swimming pool which was located near 5 ms pasir panjang road was a private swimming pool which was open to the public. it also had a pagar out in the sea like the former chinese swimming club. today that site, near jalan pelepah, is used by ava as the centre for animal welfare and control.

in this 1969 road map, the location of the former haw par swimming pool should be close to the end of jalan pelepah and near batu berlayar school.

it had its beginning as the private swimming pool of the aw boon har/aw boon par family. after it was opened to the public, it became so popular that they added another pool to it. this addition, which was 40 yards by 20 yards in dimension, was used as the training pool for water-polo. the pool had two shallow ends with a deeper trough in the middle. the tiger (haw) swimming club's polo team trained in this pool.

this is the public car-park behind the ava centre for animal welfare and control

it was very crowded on weekends and there were a few cases of drowning in the pool. the swimming pool had no filtration system. the water was pumped in from the sea and after a few days of use, the water would be discharged (back) into the sea. the pump attendant had to work at odd hours because the timing of the tides would decide the pumping of water, either in or out.

another friend who had swum at the haw par pool could only remember that he paid 10 cents to swim at the pool. at that time, in the 50s, the other pool opened to the public was the mount emily swimming pool. however, at mt emily, because the pool was usually so packed, those who were still in the queue were sometimes denied admission.

i believe that what used to be where the pagar was located could now be the site of the pasir panjang distripark.

house of jade at nassim road

(bottom two photos, from the national archives of s'pore)

i remember visiting the jade house at nassim road with someone, who was connected with the aw family, in the 60s or early 70s. at that time, i did not quite appreciate the value of the jade pieces that were on display. to me, they were just carved stone pieces.

at the end of the 80s, the jade house at nassim road was torn down. today, in its place is a condominium.

the jade collection, which was priceless and quite unique, had taken more than 50 years to assemble through the joint efforts of the aw brothers, aw boon haw and aw boon par. it was housed in one of the aw mansions at nassim road, off orchard road.

the jade pieces, arranged in numerous cabinets, represented every important dynasty of china.

the tiger oil - house of jade itself repesented an unusual and memorable sight. it lay in a compound where sculptured models of gazellas, storks and lions were sert on the lawn; grottos, shrines and small caves were built into the rocks along the sides.



in the 1930s, the aw brothers opened their private jade house on nassim Road for public viewing as part of their commitment to community service. during the second world war, the aw family hid their jade collection in crates, in the basement of the jade house. the jade collection survived the war largely intact and the family donated part of it to the national museum of singapore in 1979. the national heritage board currently owns the aw family’s private jade collection.