Tuas TV World was built between 1990 and 1992 at a cost of about $35 million by the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation. - ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
SINGAPORE, June 18, (The Straits Times/ANN): Once hailed as the biggest outdoor television studio in the region, what remains of the now-defunct Tuas TV World is slated for demolition by the second quarter of 2024.
The 6.6ha facility had eight sets, with five depicting old Singapore and three of China.
It was built between 1990 and 1992 at a cost of about $35 million by Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) – an antecedent of Mediacorp.
The complex also had a 215m-long water feature that mimicked the Singapore River, including pumps to generate waves.
It is located between Tuas Checkpoint Complex and the Land Transport Authority’s upcoming Integrated Train Testing Centre.
SBC representatives said in 1990 that when completed, Tuas TV World would be 40 times the size of an “early Singapore” set they had in Caldecott Hill, and allow the broadcaster to produce more dramas.
These would include English, Malay and Indian dramas, which up till that point had been limited by the mostly Chinese-style set in Caldecott.
The 6.6ha facility had eight sets, with five depicting old Singapore and three of China. - ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
It was previously reported that after about a decade of operations, Tuas TV World became too costly for the broadcaster to maintain, as fewer period dramas were produced after the 1990s.
A spokesman for the Singapore Police Force told The Straits Times on Friday that the Special Operations Command leased the premises and converted it into a temporary facility called Tuas Training Village to meet training needs.
Various police units – including land divisions and specialist units – used the site for various types of training including public order incidents, public security, forensic investigations and scenario-based exercises, the spokesman added.
He said training ceased in 2009 to prepare the site to be returned to the state.
Of TV World’s 100-odd buildings, only about 17 remain today. It is unclear when the rest of the structures were removed.
Dramas filmed during TV World’s heyday in the 90s include Strange Encounters 3, Tofu Street, The Price Of Peace, Wok Of Life and Hainan Kopi Tales.
In February 2012, Mediacorp returned to the location to film Channel 8’s 30th anniversary period drama Joys Of Life, and among the actors who went back was Chew Chor Meng, who had filmed about 10 dramas at the site since the 90s.
Speaking with The New Paper then, Mr Chew said he had many fond memories of TV World, including fishing in a nearby waterbody during filming breaks.
Mr Chew, who brought his wife and two daughters to TV World in 2012 to show them where he previously worked, said that the site is part of Singapore’s drama history and part of the collective memory of actors around his age.
Heritage blogger and author Jerome Lim said the site is interesting, as it represents a significant period in Singapore’s attempts to produce local TV dramas.
It is a shame that it was given up and will now be torn down, he added.
“Who would have thought that we had our own Singaporean version of a Hollywood type outdoor set?” he said.
Tuas TV World’s remaining buildings sit on land zoned as a reserve site, meaning its specific use is yet to be determined.
The Ministry of Home Affairs is expected to appoint a contractor in mid-September, following which demolition works will run till the second quarter of 2024 before the site is handed over to the Singapore Land Authority. - The Straits Times/ANN
