The New World was set up in Jalan Besar in 1923 and was the first of the three pre-WWII amusement parks that was set up in Singapore. It was extremely popular and attracted large crowds from Singapore and Malaya from the 1920s right up to the 1960s. Visitors were charged an admission fee of 10 cents to enter the amusement park, and then had to pay separately to participate in the other entertainment programmes and to purchase items from the numerous hawker stalls. Many popular foreign personalities such as Charlie Chaplin also performed at the amusement park. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Shaw Organisation diversified into amusement parks and acquired the New World. It also owned the other two amusement parks in Singapore, the Gay World and Happy World. These amusement parks provided affordable entertainment during the colonial era and played an important life in both the social lives of the Singapore community and in shaping the popular culture of the pre-war society.
