We sent our Culture Guru Mel out on a fact finding tour in the Singapore Peranakan suburb of Katong. This is the suburb where our most popular food tours are held.
Have you heard about Roxy Theatres?
If you are born in my era then Singapore is already established. You will know Grand Mercure Singapore Roxy hotel. It’s along East Coast Road in Katong.
I recently joined our tour of the Peranakan enclave. I was enjoying my delicious bowl of Katong laksa when tales of Roxy Cinema began.
Mr Chia Hong Min, 76 years old Peranakan, retiree, sitting at the laksa shop about a table away from our tour. He started talking about how he met his late wife, opposite the road, from then Roxy Cinema.
Roxy Cinemas opened its doors to the public on 17th February 1931 by Mr Low Peng Soy. Opposite the popular Red House Bakery which is still at the heart of Katong today.
Being the first cinema in Katong, it was a haunt for the youth. Especially among the Eurasian and Peranakan students. It was a landmark institution screening Chinese, English, Malay and Hindustani movies. Most popular in early and mid 20th century.
For Mr Chia, it was more than a cinema. It was where his first date with his wife took place. He said that between the late 1950s to early 1960s, this area was his hangout area. Back then, he said, a movie would cost about $0.50 cents.
He mentioned that Saturday mornings, at the Red House Bakery were busy. He would see families and young couples. And when I asked, if it was true matchmaking took place in the Red House Bakery, he did not deny.
Mr Chia’s parents were Peranakan traders. They owned a Chinese Herbal Shop that was later closed for good in the early 1990s. It was safe to say that Mr Chia came from a well to do Peranakan family. In time this resulted in him meeting his late wife in Katong.
Roxy Cinema ceased operations on 1st August 1978. Shaw Brothers who owned the ownership of the cinema sold it off in 1977. Today, Roxy Square still stands on the land, which the cinema once stood
Roxy Square still has operating food stalls. The older generation still sees it as Roxy Cinemas. It is also the home to Jangutt’s original Katong Laksa which we visit on our morning Katong tour.
Are you curious to see this historic place and learn more about the Peranakan culture? Join us on our morning Katong Tour. We’ll will sit down for a bowl of original Laksa in Roxy square itself and maybe meet Mr Chia again.
