New World’s End: The walking tour to fall in love and say goodbye, all in one night

“I used to think walking could mend a broken heart…” our narrator Kiran sets the tone for the tour through his old neighbourhood. Although it would be most of our first times seeing it through his rose-tinted glasses, we understand it is – at the same time – a bittersweet farewell. 

New World’s End is an interactive, self-guided audio walking tour and immersive art experience situated along Jalan Besar. Entangled in Kiran and Rosa’s love story, visitors get a unique opportunity to explore Singapore’s old-world charm and niche history.

Map in our hands and headphones on, Kiran guides us across frenetic streets and grimy back alleys… roads otherwise untravelled to the average tourist and local, no matter how long we’ve lived in Singapore. We revisit the landmarks of this historic neighbourhood, or what’s left of it, as Kiran recounts the remnants of his romance with Rosa. Straddling the line between current day Little India and 1960s Jalan Besar, the tour performs a delicate dance between our shared history and our collective imagination.

Kiran takes us to the park where their worlds first collided, the quaint apartment they once shared, the streets he walked accompanied by only the memory of her – every detail lovingly crafted, then dusted with nostalgia and cigarette ash. As the reel of Kiran and Rosa rolls into the night, one can’t resist the ruminations: perhaps things are precious because they don’t last forever? Or are the most precious things forever preserved in time?

We end our tour with a nightcap at Exit Stage Left, New World’s End resident bar (and heartbreak recovery centre), appropriately nestled in the ruins of “Hotel New World”. While happily ever afters are easy crowd-pleasers, the clever allure of New World’s End is in its ability to find romance in inevitable endings.

Akin to Singapore’s rapidly evolving landscape, the star-crossed lovers remind us that all growth requires change. But the rubble from which Jalan Besar has evolved is far from forgotten, at least while Kiran lives to tell his story. Through the lens of this hopeless romantic, grief is merely love’s souvenir.

The Inspiration

More than just a “venue”, New World’s End is a bold and heartfelt venture to change how locals and tourists interact with the city. Inspired by Singapore’s first amusement park, New World Amusement Park (1923 - 1987), as well as Singapore’s largest civil disaster, the collapse of Hotel New World in 1986, New World’s End pays homage to grit, glamour and most rarely celebrated of all, grief.

While Kiran and Rosa’s love story is all but fictional, it dares us to face what’s true underneath every shimmering facade, and salvage what’s valuable from every perceived loss. A love letter to doomed romances, and the hopeless romantic’s incurable proclivity to find beauty in all things.

The Talent

Writer and Director Kaylene Tan boasts an arsenal of creative achievements including theatre, film and television credits, as well as having been commissioned by numerous arts institutes, festivals and cultural institutions, such as the National Museum of Singapore. 

Set Designer Alan Oei is the Co-founder & Executive Director of OH! Open House, is a non-profit organisation whose mission seeks to push the boundaries of art and storytelling. Alan is an artist-curator whose work and projects examine the intersection of art history and politics and has been shown in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia and the USA.

The Conclusion

Whether you’re a hopeless romantic, a history-lover or an art enthusiast, New World’s End offers something for everyone to fall in love with.

Closing July 14, it’s our last chance to bid farewell to New World’s End. Seize the moment while it’s here –– we preserved the best for last!

New World's End Audio Experience will cease operations on Sunday, 14 July 2024. From 15 May to closing, guests will enjoy 50% off tickets and merchandise. Make your bookings here.