Taman Jurong Heritage Trail - Jurong Drive-in Theatre

Young Singaporeans may not know this. We used to have a drive-in theatre right here in Singapore. Thanks to my dear friend, Stephen Lai, I am able to share with you, these 2 rare photos of the Jurong Drive-In Theatre.

That little structure in the centre; could it be the projection room?

The pick-up truck in this photo is travelling along Yuan Ching Road towards Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim.This giant screen, measuring 47 ft by 100 ft, was raised 25 ft above ground and tilted at an angle of six-and-a-half degrees. Source: Singapore Infopedia.

Where was it located?

The Jurong Drive-in Theatre was located along Yuan Ching Road next to Japanese Garden Road. Today, the land is occupied by the Fairway Club. The rear of the cinema was near Japanese Garden Road, whilst the screen was towards the direction of the Tang Village, which, of course, was not in existence at that time.

Viewed from Blk 113

What I remember of this place

Actually, I cannot recall much of this place as I had only been there a couple of times. It was not a popular place for Singaporeans for a number of reasons. One, there was no air-conditioning. This kind of open-air concept is just not suitable for our tropical climate; especially since by the 1980’s, Singaporeans had grown affluent and accustomed to watching movies in air-conditioned comfort.  Besides this, there was also the factor of rain to consider.

Secondly, the sound quality was poor. The sound came from a speaker which had a bracket attached to it. You mount the speaker on the car door with the window wound down. The car, by the way, is parked on a slight incline so that you can view the huge screen. I believe that, as the distance from the screen increased, this angle of inclination was reduced. For these reasons, sometimes, we preferred to get out of the car and watch the movie from the public gallery seats located at the back of the cinema.

The only movie that I recall watching at the Jurong Drive-in was Bruce Lee’s The Big Boss. This movie was such a big hit that all the tickets were sold out in the regular theatres in town; and so in desperation, my brothers and I headed for the Jurong Drive-in.

The Big Boss broke the drive-in cinema's box-office record, collecting S$12,000 for one night. Source: Singapore Infopedia.

For a more detail explanation of the Jurong Drive-in Cinema, check out this article at the Singapore Infopedia website.

Below are some photos from the National Archives’ Picas website.

Some old cinemas in town - 1952

Here are some 1951~52 photos of cinemas in the town area courtesy of Joe Elliot. Also cinema tickets from the same period. I have not been to the last 2. A bit too young. Anyone know where was Chung King?

And here’s one more from Mike Robbins taken in the mid-1960s.

Open-air theatre at Somapah Village, 1952

Among the (year) 1952 photos that Joe Elliott sent me, are these gems of an open-air theatre which I believe should be at Somapah Village.

This is the external view of the theatre. The title of the movie, as far as I can make out is “小 罗 宾 汉” (Little Robin Hood) directed by 梁 深 (王 字 旁） starring 羽 马 and   佳 缨 .  Anyone heard of these names?

This is the entrance “to all seats”; Adult – 50 cts, Children – 30 cts.

Seating and screen area. The Gents is on the left of the screen.

This is the Projection box.

This photo shows the outside of the theatre. To the right of this photo is the open air theatre and in front - left to right - is Changi Rd. The road straight ahead leads to Mata Ikan.

This is Joe’s hand-drawn map of the area. 

After studying the last photo and Joe’s sketch; and comparing it with the 1963 street directory maps of this area (below), I have come to the conclusion that this open-air theatre was located at what was then the Somapah Village; near or at the junction of Jalan Tiga Ratus and Upper Changi Road to be exact. The road leading to Maka Ikan is Somapah Road.

Here is a 2007 map of this area for comparison. Parts of Somapah Road remain.

Below are two recent photos of this area taken from Jalan Tiga Ratus. The first photo is from Google Streetview (probably taken a couple of years ago) and the second photo was taken by me this morning. As you can see, a great deal of construction is going on.

In my book Good Morning Yesterday, I gave a detail description (page 15) of the open-air theatre that I used to go to in the 1950s. This was the South Country Theatre (南国戏院) located at, what is today, the Raffles Institution in Bishan. Thanks to Joe’s photos, more details have come back. For example, the location of the toilets to the right and left of the screen were just like in Joe’s photo. I also recall, now, how we were quite fascinated by the beam of bright light that was projected from the box office over our heads and onto the screen.

As I did not have a photo of the South Country Theatre, I had to search the National Archives’ Picas data base and I managed to find this 1986 photo which I then used in page 132 of my book. According to the description given in the Picas website, this open-air theatre was located at Somapah Village. Could this be the very same theatre in Joe’s photos – albeit an upgraded’ version? Your views please.

The William Tell Overture

One of the very first articles that I posted in this blog was about going to the movies when I was a kid. My father often brought us to an open-air theatre in Pek San Teng (Bishan) called Lam Kok or South Country Theatre (南国戏院). This was probably in the 1950’s.

I might have given readers the impression that all the movies I saw in Lam Kok were black and white Cantonese movies. Actually that is not correct. The first colour film I recall watching was an English movie by the title of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. There’s another one which is a Western cowboy movie. Although kids of our generation loved cowboy movies, this one is more well-known for its theme music than its stories. Listen and you will surely know which movie I am talking about.



By the way, how long after the video started before you to get the answer?

Cinemas @ Great World

Since so much hype has been generated about the Great World; I think I should also indulge in a bit of Great World nostalgia. As I mentioned before in my post about the New World Amusement Park, I did not go to GW Amusement Park as a kid but rather to New World. I only went to GW when I was already quite big; and it was to the cinemas; namely Globe and Sky, and not the amusement park.


I remember two movies that I saw at Sky.

The first was the famous 射雕英雄传 (The Brave Archer). This is an extremely popular Wuxia classic that has been made to countless television serials. The movie version that I saw was produced by Shaw brothers and it starred the late Alexander Fu Sheng. I remember the pace of the movie was so fast that we had great difficulty following the story. I think it was unwise for the producer to try and cram such a long and well-know story into a single 2-episode movie.

As I think about this classic, I believe there used to be an even earlier black and white version of it; in Cantonese of course. Can anyone remember?

The other movie which I remember seeing at Sky theatre; and probably my last, was another Shaw Brothers sword-fighting movie by the title of 流星蝴蝶剑. The director was a new generation director by the name of Chor Yuen. What I remember about this movie was the sounds made by the swords when they clashed. It does not produce the usual metallic clanging sound but a very nice ringing sound.

I remember watching a show at Sky (probably 流星蝴蝶剑) with some colleagues from Philips. So the year has to be around 1980 or even later. Hence I find it rather strange that during the interview at the Channel News Asia Primetime Morning show the other day, Director Kelvin Tong kept saying that Great World closed down in 1978.

I also remember two movies at Globe. One was The Graduate which starred a very young Dustin Hoffman. I enjoyed the Simon and Garfunkel songs more than the movie itself. The other was an extremely dull movie titled Catch 22. It starred Art Garfunkel in one of his rare starring roles. I fell asleep midway through the show and cannot remember what the show was all about.

Memories from an old news clipping (1)

In my previous post, I showed you a newspaper advertisement from 1968. I discovered three interesting pieces of information at the back.

The first is an advertisement about a piano concert at the Victoria Theatre. Notice that the concert was presented by the Singapore Musical Society. I don’t think this society exists today. Anyone know what it is called today?

Notice also the venue for the sale of tickets – Robinson, Cold Storage and C. K. Tang's. All three are Singapore icons in the Orchard Road area which are still thriving today.

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The second item in the news clipping is a cinema advertisement. (By the way, please don’t be misled by that gory movie title. I think it is a direct translation of a Chinese idiom about patriotism and defense of one’s homeland.) Notice that all the four theatres listed are no longer around.


1) Metropole (presumably) was located in the Tanjong Pagar area. Today it has been turned into a church. You can read more at Bullockcartwater’s blog.

2) Venus was located in Queenstown. This theatre has also been converted into a church. I blogged about it here.

3) Marlborough. I don’t know much about this one. I think it was located in Beach Road and was demolished long ago.

4) Hollywood was located at the Tanjong Katong – Joo Chiat area. I have not been to this area for a long time. I think it is now a shopping centre. I remember seeing two movies here.

(1) 爱的天地 starring Judy Ong (翁倩玉 - not sure if I got the Chinese name right)

She was very famous in Japan. Very good singer. I loved her Chinese version of one Japanese song 祈祷. Anyway, it’s another one of those popular Taiwanese movies of the 70's (but this one not so mushy). It’s about a teacher who wanted to dedicate her life to teaching disadvantaged kids (orphans, I think).

There was one unforgettable scene. There was a man, her headmaster I think, who wrote a Chinese idiom on the blackboard. As you know, many English-educated Singaporeans of my generation … our Chinese all half-past-six. So as the guy wrote the Chinese characters, the audience started to read them, one by one.

Suddenly there was silence. Do you know why?

Because he came to one quite difficult word which most of us didn’t know how to pronounce. Everyone so malu and dared not read anymore.

(2) 刘三姐 This was a very popular movie from China. Broke some box office records if I am not mistaken. The story is typical communist-stereotype. Rich oppressive merchant exploits peasants; peasants revolt blah blah blah. But what the audience loved was the music (山歌) and the beautiful scenery. For a long time, the radio stations bombarded us incessantly with songs from this movie. I think you can get the dvd/vcd for a few dollars.

Talking about old movie theatres, do you remember the Paramount Theatre in Serangoon Gardens? This place holds precious childhood memories for me and my siblings which I blogged about here and here? I heard that the building that used to house this theatre is going to be demolished next year. What can I say? Yet another bites the dust.

Thanks to Peter Chan for this rare 1962 photo of the Paramount Theatre.

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The third item in the news clipping is about army training. As usual, anything about the army brings back lots of memories. So I shall leave this one for the next time.

King’s Theatre @ Tiong Bahru

Although I know very little about the Tiong Bahru area, I am familiar with the King’s Theatre at Kim Tian Road. In the early 70’s when Taiwanese movies were a big hit, my older siblings, especially my elder sister and their friends were quite fond of watching this genre of romantic dramas. I used to tag along. Please bear in mind that in those days, we had no internet, no colour tv, no computer games - no pc in fact - and thus the most popular past time for young people was going to the movies.

The most popular of these mushy (picture boy in bell bottoms, girl with long hair running slow motion on beach with romantic song in background) movies were based on stories by a very famous Taiwanese novelist by the name of Qiong Yau (琼瑶). These movies usually starred the most famous Taiwanese actors of the day. The two male names that come to my mind are Alan Tang and Chin Siang Lin. There was a very popular actress but I cannot recall her name. At one time she was married to Patrick Tse Hsien.

One movie that I remember seeing in King’s was 一帘幽梦. Like most of such movies of that era, it had popular movie theme song. I think this one was written by the very famous song writer 劉家昌. I can’t remember the singer though. I don’t particularly like this song actually, but somehow, it sticks to my mind. I do like many of 劉家昌’s other songs; such as 爱的天地, 我家在那里 and this one which became a Taiwanese ‘National Day song’ - 梅花。Come to think of it, maybe I enjoyed the songs more than the movies. One other movie theme song which I liked was 在水一方 which was sung by the famous Theresa Teng.

Fig 1: This is a 1955 photo of King’s Theatre is from the National Archives collection.

Fig 2: The is a picture of a cinema ticket dated 1960. Notice the price of $1 and the words; “In aid of National Theatre Fund”. I believe this is not a normal ticket for a movie but maybe some kind of fund-raising concert. The J23 refers to the seat number. The Chinese words in those days were all 繁体。

When I was older and had my own car, I accompanied my parents and their friends to King’s occasionally. Like the theatres in nearby Queenstown or the Imperial theatre that I blogged about earlier, King’s Theatre is no more. I don’t know in which year it was demolished, but it must be in the 80’s because I could see it in my 1981 but not in my 1993 street directory. On the site where it once stood, they are building another ‘Plaza’.

Whenever I pass by this area, I remember the King’s Theatre.

Old Buildings Quiz (3)

Can you identify the building in this photo?

Hint – It used to be a cinema; can you see the Shaw Brothers logo? In the old days, all SB theatres have this logo prominently place at the top.

A few years ago, it was converted into an S11 food court; and now it is undergoing renovation. I heard that it had been bought over by one of the mega-churches. Like the 2 former cinemas in Queenstown that I blogged about earlier, it looks like this one will also be converted into a church. So perhaps we can again adapt the words of that song I mentioned in my previous post.

Where have all the cinemas gone? Gone to churches and food courts everyone.

Another One Bites the Dust

An Old Photo of Capitol Theatre courtesy of (Memories of Singapore)

(This article was first posted on Yesterday.sg on 8 Jul 2006

Ravi Veloo is going to be very disappointed. In 2001, he wrote; “There is now a movement in England to preserve its older cinema halls, some of which are quite beautiful. Fortunately, there is a similar move to conserve the lovely old Capitol Theatre in Singapore, a historical and marvellous building, and one which holds a lot of fond memories for many a Singaporean.”

Last Sunday’s Life Section of the Straits Times carried an article headlined, Capitol Downhill. It went on to describe the derelict state of the 76-year old grand dame of the cinemas in Singapore, saying that it was ‘reeking of urine and its doors rotting. Unless a new owner can be found for it soon, Capitol looks set to join the ranks of Odeon, to be demolished and replaced by a spanking new shopping complex or hotel,.

Blogger Readymade (Farewell to my Capitol) does not believe there will be any takers for this building and fears that the beautiful structure would be torn down soon. “Despite its nostalgic value, a check with the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) shows that it is not gazetted as a conservation building.” said the ST report. Or as Readymade so aptly puts it “Nostalgia alone doesn't count for much here.” So he asks us to “take a minute or two to remember the grand old dame of Singapore cinemas”. And this is what I will do.


There are 3 things that I remember about Capitol.


Firstly, the unique ornate design of the cinema hall itself: very high ceiling, stately columns, a pair of maidens on white winged horses and zodiac signs. Watching a movie from the circle seats was really quite an unforgettable experience.

Secondly, I remember the huge shiny curtains and stage. I recall there were a couple of occasions when they had live performance on stage before the actual show began. Unfortunately, I cannot recall other details.

Thirdly, any mention of Capitol Theatre will bring to my mind the unforgettable movie; The Chinese Boxer (龙虎斗), starring Wang Yu (the One-Armed Swordsman) and Lo Lieh. I remember what a thrill it was to watch this trend-setting martial arts movie with my brother, David one afternoon after school. Although the story was a no-brainer; you know, the typical Chinese hero vs Japanese baddie story, and the action was nothing to compare with Bruce Lee’s or Jet Li’s or any of the other kungfu action flicks of today; but it was a totally new experience for us in 1970. Some of the unforgettable scenes include Wang’s character practising his ‘iron fists’ (铁砂掌), and the grand show-down between the two, literally, fuming antagonists in the snow.

I don’t remember any other movie that I have seen in this theatre. Can you?

Special Effects

It’s quiz time again!

Do you know how the special effects like those below were created back in the days of black and white Hong Kong movies, when even the digital calculator did not exist?



The special effects of those days were really a far cry from what you see in today’s movies. Nevertheless, it did not stop us from having a good time at the movies. One particular scene from a Journey To The West (西游记 ) movie remains in my mind after more than 40 years. I remember nothing else about this movie except this one scene. Try to picture it. Wukong （孙悟空）and his master and Piggie are peacefully traveling on a raft on a river. Suddenly, a huge (T-rex size) hand emerges from the water behind them to grab them.

Of course the Chinese action movies those days also had very little bloodshed. The most violent scenes usually involved plunging your sword under the enemy’s armpit!

PS – Going for a break. Here’s wishing everyone a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year.

To The Movies

Back in the late 50’s and early 60’s, when television was not yet widely available in Singapore, our favorite entertainment was the movies.

And our favorite movies … yes, you’ve guessed it – the Wong Fei Hong series starring the Kwan Tak Hing as Wong Fei Hong, Shek Kin as the villain, Cho Tat Wah as one of Wong’s disciples, Leong Foon and the beloved Sai Kwa Pau, the guy with the buck teeth and stammering speech as Ngar Chat So..

The story invariably ends with the villain’s defeat and repentance; but not before having to endure a long sermon from the Master. The early episodes were in black and white of course; but I recall that some of the later episodes had the last segments in colour. I suppose it was due to budget constraint. But nevertheless, my brothers and I had a great time watching these movies.


Our favorite theatre was the South Country Theatre, or Lam Kok （南国), located in Kampong San Teng (Bishan) along Braddell Road near to the new Raffles Junior College. It was an open-air theatre, meaning that if it rains, you need to carry an umbrella. If the rain has stopped, you need to bring your own newspapers to place on the wet wooden benches . I remember the multi-coloured fluorescent tubes bordering the screen, and the occasional lizard crawling across our hero’s face.


I don’t know why, but the songs they played left a deep impression on me. Often the songs were English pop songs sung in dialect. There was one particular song which was simply hilarious. Try to picture it sung in Hokkien to the tune of a popular Harry Belafonte tune.

“Teh-O, Teh-O. Sing Kar Por lang lang ai lim teh-O”
(Translated: All Singaporeans love to drink teh-O)

Another one goes:

“Hey mambo, mambo rock, Chief minister, Lim Yew Hock”

Another theatre that our father liked to bring us to was the Bright Cinema (光明) at Paya Lebar Road. After the show, we would adjourn to Lorong Tai Seng for the delicious herbal mutton soup. To this day, my brother David cannot resist this delightful dish in spite of the high cholesterol content. Sometimes, we would tar-pow the fried hor fun from a stall along Paya Lebar Rd. I remember this fat chef who liked to clean his wok with some kind of bamboo brush. To this day, whenever I smell the aroma of fried hor fun, I think of him and his big round ladle. Ah; the glorious food – this topic deserves a separate blog.

Other theatres we frequented, though less often were the Imperial Cinema at Thomson Road, near to the present community club near to the SPC petrol station; and one at Macpherson Road. I cannot remember the name but we saw the Walt Disney cartoon, The Sleeping Beauty there.

Later, during our secondary school days, my brother David and I liked to go from our school at ACS Barker Road to Hoover Cinema at Balestier Road. We saw countless Shaw Brothers kung fu movies there. Then there was the Paramount Theatre in Seranggoon Gardens, where we watched many Hercules movies starring Steve Reeves. Once we brought our cousin from Johor Bahru, Meng to watch this incredibly boring movie (supposed to be Japanese samurai movie with lots of action; you know, the type where the hero defeats 5 or 6 baddies by wildly swing his samurai sword, and at the end of the fight scene, everyone remains frozen for a few seconds before the bad guys drop dead one by one.). The title was, The Purple Hood. Years later when I visited our cousin in Kuala Lumpur, he could still recall with fondness this horrible movie.

The advent of television brought a whole new world of entertainment for us kampong kids. I remember this rich and generous family in our kampong who bought the first tv set. They actually placed the tv outside their house for the neighbours to enjoy. Every night, we brought along stools to watch from their front yard right until the Majullah Singapura. My favorite programme was Everglades. Other shows we loved were Rin Tin Tin and Lassie.