Singapore will be first Madame Tussauds museum to have boat ride

SINGAPORE - Visitors to Sentosa may have another reason to be star-struck when they visit the island from Oct 26 onwards.

Singapore will be the seventh country in Asia to have its own Madame Tussauds wax museum, and the first to have a water boat ride.

The attraction, which originated from London, is famous for having life-like wax statues of celebrities, politicians and royalty. It has branches all over the world including six in the United States and four in China.

The boat ride, called "Spirit of Singapore", will take visitors on a journey celebrating the iconic sights of Singapore, from Marina Bay Sands to the Singapore Flyer, Botanical Gardens and the F1 night race circuit.

At the opening ceremony today, local actress Zoe Tay unveiled a wax statue of herself wearing the iconic canary yellow Gucci gown which she wore to last year's Star Awards.

She said that it was a "real honour" to be selected as one of the famous personalities to be featured, and is confident that Singapore will love this new museum.

Visitors can strike rock-star poses with celebrities like Stefanie Sun and Jay Chou, or "face off" with football legends David Beckham and Fandi Ahmad.

For those who revel in the world of politics, they can have photos taken with Singapore's current and former politicians including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and first President Yusof Ishak.

Fans of Singapore's first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, will see him in a cheerful environment as the museum has featured him out on a date with his late wife, Kwa Geok Choo.

Surrounded by heart-shaped flower decorations, visitors can take photos with the couple in the romantic set-up.

Madame Tussauds Singapore is located at the Imbiah Lookout on Sentosa. Tickets are priced at $30 for adults and $20 for children.

wjeanne@sph.com.sg