Picture Show

Feb 1953 Plush seats and Dolby stereo sound may be the norm in today's cineplexes, but the first public cinema in Singapore was nothing more than a pitched tent set up by a travelling Parsi showman. Located at the junction of Hill Street and River Valley Road, he charged 10 to 50 cents for a ticket.

By the 1920s, cinema was the main visual entertainment for many Singaporeans. After rubber-tin magnate Loke Yew died in 1917, his wife Cheng Kim took over. She later founded Associated Theatres (now known as Cathay Organisation) in 1935 to take advantage of Malaya's burgeoning film industry. The name was changed again during the Japanese Occupation to Dai Toa Gekiyo and the cinema screened Japanese propaganda films until the Loke family reclaimed the Cathay in 1949. Known for being the first air-conditioned theatre, the Cathay building now stands as a firm part of Singapore's history.…