The Cathay Building (; ms, Bangunan Cathay) was opened in 1939 by Dato

Loke Wan Tho Tan Sri Loke Wan Tho (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Lu̍k Yun-thàu''; 14 June 1915 – 20 June 1964) was a Malaysian-Singaporean business magnate, ornithologist, and photographer. He was the founder of Cathay Organisation in Singapore and Malaysia, ...

as the headquarters for the British Malaya Broadcasting Corporation. Located at 2 Handy Road in the

Museum Planning Area The Museum Planning Area is a planning area located in the Central Area of the Central Region of Singapore. The area plays a "bridging role" between the Orchard area and the Downtown Core, which necessitates proper transport networks for vehic ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, the building was most known for its air-conditioned theatre known as the Cathay Cinema, then a technological marvel and the first to be built in Singapore. Cathay Building was the first skyscraper in

and tallest building in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

at that time.

History

1930s: Opening and initial years

The supposed 16 storey (11 storey upon completion) Cathay Building was designed by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Frank W Brewer. The Cathay Building consisted of the Cathay Cinema, a restaurant and the dance hall on the ground floor, as well as a roof garden above the cinema and a residential storey block with a penthouse. The first part of the Cathay Building was opened on 3 October 1939 with the 1,300-seat Cathay Cinema, the dance hall and the Cathay Restaurant. On 1 July 1940, the 11 storey residential block was opened for occupancy, with the owners Mrs Loke Wan and

occupied the eleventh floor. The building was the first and tallest skyscraper in Singapore and in Southeast Asia, at a height of 83.5 metres from the

Dhoby Ghaut Dhoby Ghaut () is a place in Singapore that often refers to the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station, a major interchange station on Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit network connecting the North-South Line, North East Line, and the Circle Line. As a place, ...

entrance to the top of the building's water tower. Its theatre was the island's first air-conditioned cinema and public building, and where one could sit in an arm chair to watch a film; a rare amenity during that time. The building was also used as a landmark for final landing approach at

's first purpose-built civilian airport,

Kallang Airport Kallang Airport (also known as the Kallang Aerodrome, Kallang Airfield and RAF Kallang) was the first purpose-built civil international airport in Singapore, opened officially on 12 June 1937 and ceased operations in 1955, when it was reloca ...

1940s: World War II and Indian National Army

At the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in 1942, the building was converted to a

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

casualty station. When Singapore fell to the Japanese, it was used to house the Japanese Broadcasting Department, the Military Propaganda Department, the Military Information Bureau and the broadcast department of the Indian National Army's

Provisional government of Free India The Provisional Government of Free India (''Ārzī Hukūmat-e-Āzād Hind'') or, more simply, ''Azad Hind'', was an Indian provisional government established in Japanese occupied Singapore during World War II. It was created in October 1943 ...

during the occupation period. On 21 October 1943, Subhas Chandra Bose announced the formation of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind (Free India) at Cathay Building with himself as the Head of State, Prime Minister and Minister of War.Provisional Government of Azad Hind

National Archives of Singapore The National Archives of Singapore (NAS) ( Malay: ''Arkib Negara Singapura'', Mandarin: 新加坡国家档案馆, Tamil: சிங்கப்பூர் தேசிய காப்பகம்) is the national archives of Singapore. It was f ...

. The Japanese utilised the building to broadcast propaganda in the

Japanese language is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ...

. It was also the residence of film director

Yasujirō Ozu was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He began his career during the era of silent films, and his last films were made in colour in the early 1960s. Ozu first made a number of short comedies, before turning to more serious themes in t ...

from 1944 till the end of the war. When the war ended in 1945, it served as the headquarters for Admiral Lord Mountbatten while serving as the Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia Theatre of the

South East Asia Command South East Asia Command (SEAC) was the body set up to be in overall charge of Allied operations in the South-East Asian Theatre during the Second World War. History Organisation The initial supreme commander of the theatre was General Sir A ...

(SEAC). When the SEAC was disbanded a year later, the building was converted back to a cinema and a hotel. The cinema was the first to show American and

films in Singapore. A new air-conditioning plant was installed in the building in 1948. The colonial government vacated the building to be returned to the Cathay Organisation. The Cathay Restaurant was officially reopened on 1 May 1948 under the management of Cathay Restaurant Ltd.

1950-70s: Hotel and nightclub

On 9 January 1954, the building reopened as Cathay Hotel with 60 rooms and subsequently expanded to 170 rooms. It had a restaurant, nightclub, swimming pool and shopping arcade. Cathay Hotel was closed on 30 December 1970, with the 10 floors had been converted into office premises and the top floor occupied by the Cathay Organisation by July 1974. The building was refaced in 1978 with a new look by STS Leong. The original design was shadowed by the new facade.

1980-90s: Cineplex

Cathay Building was the location for the first

Orange Julius Orange Julius is an American chain of fruit drink beverage stores. It has been in business since the late 1920s and is noted for a particular drink, also called an Orange Julius. The beverage is a mixture of ice, orange juice, sweetener, milk, p ...

outlet in Singapore, which opened in 1982. In 1990, Cathay Organisation opened Singapore's first arthouse cinema, The Picturehouse adjacent to Cathay Building. The main Cathay cinema was then converted into a two-hall cineplex during that period.

Redevelopment and preservation

In 1999, Cathay announced the S$100 million plans to redevelop the whole complex. Cathay Building and the Picturehouse would show its last movie in 2000 before closing for redevelopment. The front facade of its theatre building structure was gazetted as a national monument for conservation on 10 February 2003, while the rest of the building structure was later demolished. Thus the new building incorporated conservation of the original art-deco façade of the 1939 and combined together with a modern-day design by Paul Tange of Tange Associates Japan and RDC Architects Pte Ltd Singapore.

The Cathay The Cathay is a mixed-use 17-storey cinema, shopping mall and apartment building located at Handy Road and Mount Sophia in the Museum Planning Area of Singapore. History Owned and managed by Cathay Organisation, the original building was open ...

as it is currently known, was opened on 24 March 2006. The building houses retail, food & beverage outlets and an 8-screen Cathay Cineplex which includes The Picturehouse. The Cathay Residences opened towards the end of 2006.

References

External links

Official website of Cathay
{{Authority control Demolished buildings and structures in Singapore Buildings and structures demolished in 2003 Former skyscrapers Cinemas in Singapore Landmarks in Singapore National monuments of Singapore Office buildings completed in 1940 Orchard Road Museum Planning Area 1940 establishments in the Straits Settlements 1940 establishments in the British Empire 2003 disestablishments in Singapore