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Majestic Theatre Chinatown Stories | Updated as of June 2019 Majestic Theatre Since the 1920s, the iconic building on Eu Tong Sen Street has seen numerous incarnations – as an opera theatre, a cinema, a shopping mall and most recently, a betting centre. History of Majestic The Majestic Theatre came into being in the 1920s on a whim. When philanthropist Eu Tong Sen’s wife, a Cantonese opera fan, was refused entry by another Cantonese opera house, he sought to console her by building this now iconic edifice for her. The three-storey theatre he built in Chinatown was completed in 1928 and was originally known as the Tin Yin Moh Toi (天演舞台) or Tin Yin Dance Stage. Eu also formed an opera troupe for her, and bought the street on which the theatre sat, naming it Eu Tong Sen Street. The 1,194-seat theatre was then the grandest building in Chinatown; designed by Singapore’s oldest architecture firm Swan & Maclaren, the building was a mix of Art Deco style with Chinese flourishes – in line with a Shanghai chic that was all the rage back then. Its facade was decorated with vivid blue, green and pink mosaic dragon motifs, and also portraits of opera stars, and the interior was a cavernous hallway with a huge domed ceiling. The theatre wall, which bears the bold black Chinese characters showing the theatre’s original name, Tin Yin Moh Toi (天演舞台), offered Cantonese opera as well as the occasional silent movie and was a meeting place for the Chinese elite. To raise money for China’s war efforts against the Japanese, China’s major opera stars flocked to perform at Tin Yin in the 1930s. In 1938, the theatre was converted into a cinema and rented to Hong Kong film production company Shaw Brothers, which renamed it the Queen's Theatre (皇宫戏院), and screened the latest Cantonese blockbuster films there. During the Japanese Occupation, the Queen’s Theatre was renamed Tai Hwa Opera House (大和 剧场) and was used to screen Japanese propaganda films. The Shaw Brothers’ lease for the theatre ended shortly after the war and the theatre got its current name from a subsequent tenant, The Majestic Film Company. In 1956, Cathay Organisation and two partners bought the Majestic Theatre for $1.1 million from the Eu family. The 1950s and 1960s were the cinema’s golden years; it was not only a trendy entertainment spot for the locals, it also drew many visiting Hong Kong mega film stars such as Lin Dai (林黛) and Ge Lan (葛兰) who made appearances at their film screenings. In 1983, Cathay Organisation bought out the partnership and became the sole owner of the theatre, screening films until 1998, when the venue closed in a dilapidated state. Redevelopment Page 1 of 4 Chinatown Stories | Updated as of June 2019 The building stayed vacant until the early 2000s, when Cathay Organisation turned the Majestic Theatre into a three-storey shopping mall after a 1½-year renovation that cost $8 million. The building was given conservation status by the authorities, so its architectural features were left intact. After the renovation, the building was renamed The Majestic, and the mall opened on 17 January 2003. Tenants included Popular Book Store, bakery BreadTalk and clothing retailer Hang Ten. There were critics who questioned the need for yet another shopping mall, but Cathay Organisation Holdings responded that the original building was neither viable as a single cinema nor could it be converted into a cineplex because of structural constraints. Unfortunately, the mall did not work out and in July 2008, Cathay Realty, the real estate subsidiary of the Cathay Organisation, sold the building to real estate firm Fortress Development. In 2009, Singapore Turf Club took up the lease for the building and turned it into a betting centre. The betting centre now occupies most of the building’s three floors. Public uproar That the once-iconic theatre ended up being used as a betting centre created a stir among heritage conservationists and ardent Chinese cultural arts fans. Words like “moral deterioration”, “disgrace”, “travesty” and “crass” were tossed up in reports by daily newspaper The Straits Times that quoted members of the public, opinions which were also expressed in letters to the press. There was also a flurry of letters from the public proposing alternative uses for The Majestic, including as a performing and exhibition space, especially for Chinese cultural activities. Other suggestions were to allow it to be used for people to play mahjong, yum cha and watch opera; as a teahouse with xinyao performances; or be converted into the Singapore Film Centre for screenings. Yet another moved for the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall to be relocated to the Majestic. Dr Kevin Tan, a lawyer, and a past president of the Singapore Heritage Society, spoke to The Straits Times in his personal capacity, saying: “If we keep insisting that conservation buildings must net a huge return to the owners, then you will end up with the only people who can afford high rents – gambling establishments, massage parlours and nightclubs.” He added that the revenue model must be tweaked to balance being profitable and social benefits. When contacted by The Straits Times, the Turf Club said it followed Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) guidelines and that, whenever possible, it provided the building as a venue for the community to organise festive events such as Chinese New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations. The URA told The Straits Times that its approval for The Majestic’s use as a betting centre was “compatible with the surrounding shops and F&B uses”. Page 2 of 4 Chinatown Stories | Updated as of June 2019 “When allowing owners to adapt heritage buildings for various commercial uses, we are mindful of the need to balance between free market forces and protecting heritage character,” the authority said. “It is not always possible for the Government to dictate how conserved buildings should be used if it is not economically viable for the owners. Adaptive reuse allows conserved buildings to have a continual meaningful existence.” It added that even though The Majestic was part of the greater Kreta Ayer historical district, it was not within the “core” heritage area. If it were, its use would exclude a long list of trades, such as fast-food outlets, car showrooms and supermarkets, deemed to intrude on “cultural ambience”. Why The Majestic wouldn’t work for other purposes Experts pointed out that it is difficult to convert the Majestic into another purpose because the building is structurally unfriendly – it cannot be used as a boutique hotel, for example, because of its inadequate number of windows. It also cannot be turned into a cineplex for cinemagoers because the building is not large enough. Also, the location of the Majestic works against it. Even though it is steps away from Chinatown MRT station, the area was “a place of confusion”, an operations director for a property consultancy firm told The Straits Times. She added: “The lack of a decent pedestrian sidewalk, coupled with heavy vehicular traffic make the area undesirable to go to.” But at least one person was in favour of the Turf Club running a betting centre there. Architect John Ting, a former president of the Singapore Institute of Architects, told The Straits Times that having the Turf Club running a betting centre there would mean at least the building would be maintained rather than abandoned. “Betting is a form of entertainment and is in line with what the building was meant for,” he added. He suggested that opera or theatre groups could work with the Turf Club to rent a performance space, thereby allowing a cultural element to be brought back to the building. Eu Tong Sen’s grandson, Mr Richard Eu, told The Straits Times in 2011 that “I think that it would be great if it could be converted back for some kind of cultural usage”. Mr Eu also expressed that the Eu family was unlikely to buy back the building. And so, The Majestic stands today, a shadow of its former self. References: http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes20020703- 1.2.34.2?ST=1&AT=search&k=majestic%20theatre%20closed&QT=majestic,theatre,closed&oref=articl e https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/music/Media/PDFs/Article/94189c68-0c6f-4383-81a8-a3cbc2d815fc.pdf Page 3 of 4 Chinatown Stories | Updated as of June 2019 Please don’t turn The Majestic into foodcourt, The Sunday times, 5 August 2007 Majestic Theatre's back, The Straits Times, 18 January 2003 2 Makeovers for Majestic, 26 November 2011, The Straits Times Theatre Majestic no more, 9 November 2011, The Straits Times Majestic Theatre back in the spotlight, 6 November 2011 The Sunday Times Page 4 of 4 .
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