The importance of Singapore as the centre or hub for the region’s film distribution and exhibition stemmed from its early beginnings in the first half of the 20th century and this was generally attributed to the proprietors of the early Singapore cinema halls and their film companies. Although these old stand-alone cinema halls are no longer around, their past is an inseparable part of the rich film exhibition history of Singapore and Southeast Asia.   

Drawing on years of research using newspapers, rare archival materials and cinema memorabilia collected personally over four decades, this talk offers a comprehensive study of Singapore’s rich cinema exhibition history, from its early beginnings in 1896 to the golden age of cinema and the end of the era of stand-alone theatres in 2000s. This talk also focuses on the proprietors who owned these cinema halls and explores how Singapore’s rapid development impacted the cinema exhibition circuit and its transformation over the last century.

 *This talk is part of the “Popular Nanyang” series, funded by the FASS Societal Impact Scheme 2024.

Wong Han Min is a philatelist and ephemera collector cum researcher of Singaporean landscape and social history, including the entertainment and film history of Singapore. He has exhibited his film memorabilia collection multiple times, including in collaborations with the Asian Film Archive and the Hong Kong Film Archive, and given talks both locally and overseas. In particular, his film memorabilia collection represented Singapore at the 2009 edition of the Venice International Art Biennale, and earned a special mention at the exhibition.

He is currently co-writing the book titled Lost Screens & My Last Kacang Puteh: Singapore Early Picture Palaces (1896-1945) which highlights Singapore and the region’s rich film heritage through his collection of rare cinema memorabilia, including old cinema photographs, tickets, movie flyers & etc.