Japanese occupation

During the bombing episodes of WWII, the New World was partially affected as the air-conditioned dance hall was destroyed [1]. When Singapore fell to the Japanese, they took control of the amusement parks. Thus, New World was renamed Shin Segai and the Japanese turned it into a gambling den, which only allowed locals to enter [2]. The Japanese also allowed the food and drink stalls to continue their operations and even permitted certain entertainment activities such as opera performances to keep up the facade of a peaceful society [3]. Along with the other parks, New World became a black market that sold goods such as chocolate and cigarettes at extremely inflated prices [4]. 

New World was also a Sook Ching site, where many of the Chinese men who reported at the Jalan Besar checkpoints were sent to Tanah Merah and Changi Beach and died during the massacres [5]. However, once the Japanese Occupation had ended, the park sprang back to life again as more forms of activities entered the entertainment scene.