Once the largest tropical fish oceanarium in Asia, the Underwater World will be walking into the history books today, after 25 years of operation at Sentosa.
It took more than two years, between 1988 and 1991, and $20 million to build the Underwater World on the western end of Sentosa island. The idea of a marine oceanarium in Singapore to boost tourism was mooted in the late seventies, prompted by the success of Hong Kong’s Ocean Park, opened in 1977.
At that period, the only similar attraction was the Van Kleef Aquarium at Fort Canning Park, which was built by the municipal government in 1955. The construction funds of the aquarium came from the estate proceeds owned by Dutch businessman Karl Willem Benjamin van Kleef, who, before his death in 1930, bequeathed them to the government for “the embellishment of the Singapore town”. The aquarium was hence named in honour of him.
In the late eighties, the Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) collaborated with the Western Australia Development Corporation and New Zealand company Marinescape Corporation in a joint venture to develop the Underwater World. When the new attraction was completed and opened in May 1991, it became an instant hit. As many as 200,000 people visited it in just the first month of its opening. A year later, the Underwater World received its first millionth visitor, and by 1996, almost nine million had paid their visits to the oceanarium.
The success of the new Underwater World also meant that the Van Kleef Aquarium had to face even stiffer competition. The aging aquarium was already having difficulties sustaining its business after its visitorship rapidly declined in the eighties. In just two weeks after the opening of the Underwater World, Van Kleef Aquarium was closed for good.
The interior layout of the Underwater World is made up of a main hall, mid foyer and an observation tunnel. Inside the main hall are exhibits of living fossils, marine reef tanks and a stingray feeding pool. The mid foyer showcases interesting marine life such as spider crabs, seahorses, giant octopuses, cuttlefish and different species of fishes.
The star attraction of the Underwater World is its iconic 83m-long underwater observation tunnel made up of thick acrylic panes. A travelator brings the visitors round the tunnel where they can have close-up views of sharks, rays, groupers, snappers, eels and turtles swimming in three million litres of filtered sea water.
Over the years, the Underwater World has been actively involved in the conservation of the marine life and environment. It had collaborated with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in the coral conservation, and worked in research projects with other regional aquariums, such as the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium of Japan, in the protection of Hawksbill Turtles. In 2005, it also sponsored the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve marine fish program.
Many political leaders of other countries had paid visits to the Underwater World. In 1994, Jiang Zemin, then-President of the People’s Republic of China, was invited to a tour at Sentosa’s Pioneers of Singapore & Surrender Chamber Museum (present-day Images of Singapore) and the Underwater World.
The oceanarium’s other distinguished guests-of-honour in the nineties also included Nursultan Nazarbayev (President of Kazakhstan), Gyula Horn (Prime Minister of Hungary), Tiit Vähi (Prime Minister of Estonia), Henri Konan Bedie (President of Ivory Coast), Isaias Afwerki (President of Eritrea), Joaquim Alberto Chissano (President of Mozambique) and Tran Duc Luong (President of Vietnam).
In 1992, three Tan brothers, Chwee Lye, Chwee Lee and Chwee Chye, splashed $25 million to take over the Underwater World. It would again change ownership, three years later, when the oceanarium was bought by Haw Par Brothers International (now Haw Par Corporation) for $56 million. The company would pay another $32 million during its full acquisition of the Underwater World at the end of the nineties.
The Underwater World established one of its milestones in 1999 when it added six pink dolphins at its new Dolphin Lagoon. Despite being one of the more popular features at the oceanarium, the Dolphin Lagoon had constantly attracted criticisms from the animal rights groups for its captivity of the dolphins. In 2014, the Underwater World was also put on negative headlines when one of its pink dolphins was found suffering from skin cancer.
On 26 June 2016, the Underwater World, a place that has provided fun and childhood memories for many Singaporeans, will be permanently closed. The new Southeast Asia (SEA) Aquarium, built by Resort World Singapore in 2012, is currently the main oceanarium attraction at Sentosa.
Just like how the older generation would fondly remember Van Kleef Aquarium, the Underwater World will probably be also remembered next time by the Gen X and Gen Y Singaporeans as one of their childhood haunts.
A last look at the good ol’ Underwater World before its closure:
Published: 26 June 2016