History

By the late 1930s Singapore was a prosperous entrepôt, and the Loke and Eu families—pillars of the Straits Chinese merchant class—had already established themselves in entertainment through Cathay Organisation. Their commission for a new headquarters on Handy Road, at the edge of the colonial civic quarter, was a calculated declaration of both wealth and modernity. The building opened in 1939, the same year Europe slid into war, and its sheer height made it the most prominent structure in the urban skyline at the time.

The tower became a focal point of the Pacific War almost immediately. When Japanese forces entered Singapore in February 1942, the upper floors of the Cathay Building served as the last British command post before the surrender. After the capitulation, the Japanese military occupied it for the duration of the occupation, using it for broadcasting and administrative purposes. The building’s height and visibility made it symbolically loaded for both sides throughout the conflict.

Post-war, Cathay returned to civilian use and its cinema became one of the city’s premier picture houses through the 1950s and 1960s, a period when Singapore’s film industry—centred on Shaw Brothers and Cathay Organisation—was producing Malay-language films for audiences across Southeast Asia. The Cathay cinema was the first air-conditioned cinema in Singapore, a distinction confirmed by the National Heritage Board (roots.gov.sg) and central to the building’s significance in local cultural history.

The tower was demolished and redeveloped in the early 2000s, but conservationists successfully argued for the retention of the original Art Déco street-level facade along Handy Road. That facade was gazetted as a national monument, and the new development—The Cathay—opened in 2006, designed to preserve the historic frontage while accommodating a modern retail and residential tower behind it. The Cathay Cineplex operated within the complex until June 2022, when it closed after more than eight decades of cinema history on the site. The building underwent a further revamp from mid-2023 and reopened in 2025.