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Eng Wah Organisation Limited

Eng Wah Organisation Limited is one of the major film distributors and cinema operators in Singapore. It was founded in 1945 by Goh Eng Wah, a native from Muar in Johor. The company grew to become a major distributor of Chinese movies in Singapore.

Early history
Goh Eng Wah first ventured into cinema business in 1945 when he and a friend rented the Victory Theatre at the Happy World amusement park (later known as Gay World), which they used to show Japanese propaganda films. Over the next decade, he went on to set up a number of cinemas. During the 1960s, he became one of the leading distributors of Chinese movies from Hong Kong and Taiwan in Singapore. His cinemas were popular for screening the latest Chinese blockbusters. He was among the first movie-distributors to bring Hong Kong and Taiwanese stars to Singapore to promote their movies. He also ventured into film production in Hong Kong and financed several films, such as Teddy Girls, Call Girls and Hiroshima 28, which were shown in Singapore. Some of these films won awards in the Asian Film Festivals. On 24 July 1968, Goh Eng Wah incorporated his business under the name of Eng Wah Theatres Organization Pte Ltd.

Later developments
In the early 1970s, Eng Wah decided to bring movies from the downtown area to Singapore's heartland, the housing estates. In 1972, the company opened Toa Payoh Theatre, its first cinema to be operated in a Housing Development Board (HDB) estate before expanding to other HDB estates. The company achieved another milestone in 1988 when it screened its first English movie at Marina Theatre. It had been screening mainly Chinese movies before 1988, but began screening English movies to cater to young movie-goers who were keener on Hollywood flicks.

In the 1990s, the company began redeveloping its theatres into multi-faceted entertainment centres and building new multi-screen cineplexes. To attract movie-goers, it launched the cinema industry's first mobile phone ticketing service, SMS/WAP-a-movie, in March 2002, allowing customers to purchase movie tickets via Short Message Service (SMS) or the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). This was followed by another first in the cinema industry, an on-line loyalty programme, Friends of Eng Wah, which was rolled out in April 2002.

The company became public listed on 4 July 1994 and concurrently it changed its name to Eng Wah Organization Ltd. Besides film distribution and operating cinemas, the company has diversified its business to include other business ventures such as property leasing and food distribution.



Author
Heirwin Mohd Nasir



References
Eng Wah Organization Ltd. (1995-2000). Annual Report. Singapore: Author.
(Call no.: RSING 338.76179143095957 EWOAR )

Ho, K. (2002, October 2). Eng Wah Goes Places. The Straits Times, Life!, p. 3. 

Long, S. (1997, May 25). Conversations in a Mercedes-Benz. The Sunday Times, Sunday Plus, Leisure, p. 20. 

Eng Wah Organization. (2000). About Eng Wah: Overview. Retrieved October 2, 2002, from www.ewcinemas.com.sg/about_overview.htm

WallStraits.com Pte Ltd. (1999-2005). Eng Wah Organisation Limited. Retrieved March 14, 2005, from www.wallstraits.com/main/showstockdata.php?code=E15



The information in this article is valid as at 2002 and correct as far as we can ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Organisations>>Companies
Commerce and Industry>>Industries
Business enterprises--Singapore
Motion pictures--Singapore
Business, finance and industry>>Industry>>Communication and media
Business, finance and industry>>Industry>>Leisure and entertainment

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