Little known to many, there is a Television (TV) World at the end of Tuas, situated just beside the Tuas Second Link checkpoint. Looking like a rundown theme park from the outside, it was mainly used by the Television Corporation Of Singapore (TCS) in the nineties as the production venue of local period dramas.
Occupying a land size equivalent to about four football fields, the TV World was created in 1990, completed about two years later, to look like Singapore of the fifties and sixties. It was designed with buildings that resemble old cinema, railway station, fire station, church, mansions and traditional shophouses. Three main streets run around these buildings.
There was also a man-made river within TV World for filming purposes. In the past, the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) artistes, if required in the scripts, were made to jump or swim in the Singapore River.
Using the nostalgic props and backgrounds at TV World, the TCS would produce many memorable Chinese dramas for Channel 8, such as Strange Encounters 3 奇缘3 (aired in 1995), Tofu Street 豆腐街 (1996), The Price Of Peace 和平的代价 (1997), Wok Of Life 福满人间 (1999) and Hainan Kopi Tales 琼园咖啡香 (2000).
In 2001, TCS was restructured and became Mediacorp TV. The TV World was subsequently given up probably due to high maintenance costs. Also, Mediacorp had decided to cut down on the production of local period dramas. Instead, if required, they would be filmed at Caldecott Broadcast Centre, Malaysia or China.
After its closure, the premises of the TV World was taken over by the Singapore Police Force as their Tactical Training Village for special forces. In 2012, Mediacorp did, however, return to the TV World for one more production of drama series – Joy of Life 花样人间 – for the 30th year of production of local Chinese dramas in Singapore.
Check out more old photos of Tuas TV World here.
Published: 31 July 2016
Updated: 20 August 2016
Remember Singapore 
Hi, I am a 20 year old reader from Singapore and I would like to thank you for writing this blog! Truly love reading all these articles on old/abandoned places! 🙂
I pass through that area everyday commuting from jb to sg. I always thought they are old colonial era buildings.
Great job!
They looked more authentic now then when it was used in the 90s.
I really wish we could go inside and take a look!
Old valuable Tuas TV World photos from Salleh Sariman, who used to work for SBC/TCS/Mediacorp as a cameraman
1990, when this Tuas area was still a barren land
Tuas TV World 1993
Tuas TV World 2001
https://www.flickr.com/photos/77634078@N04/albums/72157631248627210/with/7870703154/
(Photo Credits: Salleh Sariman)
Really cool. Can he share more pictures of the place? From what ive read, during its prime, there are even qing n song dynasty sets within Tuas tv world. Heroes in black (1999) is a chinese costume period drama and was filmed in tv world.
Will be demolished later this year….
Remainder of Tuas TV World, once S’pore’s version of Hollywood, to be demolished
Once hailed as the biggest outdoor television studio in the region, what remains of the now-defunct Tuas TV World is set to be demolished 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.
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 in December 2001 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 was ceased in 2009 to prepare the site to be returned to the state.
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.
Of TV World’s 100-odd buildings, only around 15 remain today.
It is unclear when the rest of the structures were removed, though veteran local actor Chew Chor Meng said during an interview in 2012 that some buildings had already been torn down.
The 54-year-old, who had filmed about 10 dramas at the site, was among the actors who returned to TV World in February that year, when Mediacorp came back to the location to film Channel 8’s 30th anniversary period drama Joys Of Life.
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.
Veteran producer Winnie Wong, who retired in 2021 after more than 40 years in the television industry, told ST on Sunday that returning to TV World to film Joys Of Life – on which she was an executive producer – was fitting as the facility had played an integral part in the development of the local TV industry, having supported a boom in Singapore-made dramas in the 90s.
She said that, given TV World’s significant size advantage compared with the old set in Caldecott Hill, producers could do a lot more in their shows, and find new ways to wow audiences.
“At the Caldecott set we had only two streets, and no matter how we tried, audiences would eventually tire of seeing the same thing.
“There are only that many things you could do with it, like changing the names of shops,” said Ms Wong, who added that those who grew up watching local dramas in the 90s would also share an indirect bond with TV World.
Actors and crew who have worked at TV World all have lasting memories of it, and of time spent together there, she said.
“We had no mobile phones then and Tuas was so far out, there was nowhere to go during filming breaks… so we would spend the whole day together, have meals on set and talk about life,” said Ms Wong.
“It was a period when the camaraderie we shared was very strong.”
Even in its rundown state in 2012, said Ms Wong, the set still had character and impressed late Taiwanese actor Alien Huang, who starred in Joys Of Life.
While similar settings depicting Singapore in the mid-1900s are difficult to find elsewhere on the island, shows set in this period are not filmed often now, said Ms Wong.
She pointed out that keeping the set around for such instances is onerous, as much effort has to be put into maintenance.
Heritage blogger and author Jerome Lim said it is a shame that TV World was given up and will now be torn down.
“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.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/remainder-of-tuas-tv-world-once-s-pore-s-version-of-hollywood-to-be-demolished
大士电视城将走入历史 郑各评：有演员的血汗眼泪
21 June 2023
Zaobao
剩下不到20栋，大士电视城料明年（2024）第二季被夷为平地，走入历史，当年曾在大士村拍戏的艺人，心情五味杂陈。
追溯背景，新加坡广播局（新传媒前身）于1990年至1992年之间斥资3500万元在大士建造电视城。该地面积等于约9.2个足球场，有八个场景，可供拍摄时代剧和古装剧。
当年在大士村（Tuas TV World）取景的国产剧不少，计有《我来也》《风雨柴船头》《豆腐街》《新阿郎》《和平的代价》《东游记》《出路》《笑傲江湖》《荡蔻英雄》《金牌师爷》《琼园咖啡香》《福满人间》等等。
中国女星白灵也曾在大士电视城拍电视电影《新西游记》（The Monkey King）演“观音”引热议，2012年怀旧剧《花样人间》重现大士电视城久违的场景。
如今空置多年，里头100多栋建筑物大部分已经拆除，尚存的建筑物不到20栋。
视帝郑各评说：“我很伤感，新加坡再也没有适合拍摄的旧式街景了，那个地方有演员的血汗与眼泪，也带出很多不同的电视剧种，或许这就是时代变迁，但大士村确实载满了很多演员的回忆。”
其中一个令各评难忘的是与何永芳拍摄《豆腐街》的私奔戏，在大士村街景被群众扔臭鸡蛋，当时两人惨被“蛋”攻，狼狈不堪，画面历历在目。
何永芳：承载许多回忆
何永芳受访感叹好可惜，直说：“大士村承载了我半个人生演艺的回忆，从早期与金超群拍《天师钟馗之六月雪》，也还记得《豆腐街》通宵达旦拍摄，搭建的街景有三十年代、五六十年代，置身其中很容易就进入角色。”
向云：一个电视业时代已结束
向云在印象中和文永（黄文永）曾经在那里拍过《曲终魂断》，当年若要到电视城拍戏，演员都得一大早约清晨5、6时到电视台（加利谷山）化妆，然后坐公司预备的巴士到电视城。
向云表示，电视城空置多年，听说曾经有歌手在那里拍摄MV，现在要拆除了自然会觉得可惜，也说明了一个电视业的时代已经结束。
陈之财：本地电视圈的骄傲
陈之财印象中主演的《烈血青春》有部分是在大士电视城拍摄，他们从加利谷山坐巴士到那里，一路上是迷迷糊糊睡到电视城，拍完戏之后，又迷迷糊糊地睡回电视台，感觉好像去旅行，坐旅游巴士。
陈之财表示：“回想起来，大士电视城对我来说是我们本地电视的一个骄傲，在本地的电视发展史里，是一篇精彩亮丽的里程碑。”
洪慧芳：盼和家人再走一趟
洪慧芳一大半的演艺生涯都在那里度过，主演过好多剧像《东游记》《阿雪》《和平的代价》《播音人》等都在那里拍摄，她印象最深刻的是拍摄《和平的代价》中一场日军检举的戏，在烈日下吃午餐。“当时我们几个演员就到那里的‘五脚基’用餐，看到有老有少有小孩的临演在烈日下吃饭。”
现在要被拆除，当然觉得可惜，慧芳说：“希望我能和各评，带着两个孩子再去那里走一趟，回忆我们曾经走过的岁月。”
刘谦益：拆除不可惜
刘谦益依稀记得当年拍《何日军再来》就与戚玉武一起挨通宵，大士村街景虽搭建火车站、码头、旧大厦，有河流可划船，整体变化不大，加上日久失修，建筑物经日晒雨淋已经斑斑驳驳，如今新传媒少拍年代剧，实用性不强，拆除不觉得可惜。
陈澍城：地点不理想
陈澍城则认为大士电视城坐落的地点（位于亚逸拉惹快速公路旁，在大士关卡和兴建中的地铁综合测试中心之间）不尽理想，周遭既有高楼大厦、所在地也面对大士关卡，剧组在拍戏时经常得迁就镜头，避免画面“穿帮”，场地并没有被充分利用。
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/entertainment/story20230621-1406396