Niewmismatic Error Coins

Cathay Organisation was established on 18 July 1935 by Dato Loke Wan Tho and his mother, Mrs Loke Cheng Kim as Associated Theatres Ltd. In 1936, the company opened its first cinema in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the Pavilion, with 1200 seats. The year 1939 saw the landmark Cathay Building open in Singapore with the Cathay Cinema premiering Sir Alexander Korda's Four Feathers. Cathay was the country's first air-conditioned cinema i.e. Cathay Cinema and the first skyscraper, the tallest in Southeast Asia during that time. It was the first time patrons could watch movies air-conditioned and sitting in a comfortable armchair. It was also used as a landmark by pilots as a final approach before landing.

Three years later, it showed its last show and was converted into a Red Cross casualty station. After the end of war in 1945, Cathay reopened and it was Singapore's first cinema to show American and British pictures as its first screening after closure. It signed a joint venture with another company to distribute mobile films to villages and estates in Malaysia. The group installed a new air-conditioning plant in 1948 and they started to acquire many cinemas in Singapore and Malaysia.

Odeon Cinema was opened in 1936. It has 2 cinema halls and is styled in Art Deco architecture.
Built by the Cathay Organization in 1936, the Odeon Cinema was an expression of the links between the innovations of cinematography and Art Deco.
AO Coltman was the architect and Steen Sehested prepared the reinforced concrete design. The building featured new safety designs such as emergency lighting and fire prevention systems for the projector room. State-of-the-art ventilation grills and exhaust fans enhanced air circulation. The foyers were laid with locally produced rubber flooring. There are strong Art Deco elements such as the lettering style of the cinema name, vertical pylons and flagpoles. Above the entrance, a horizontal beam, embellished with a mosaic depicting drama, comedy and music, intersects the strong vertical mullions. On the side façade, 'ribs' create a vertical rhythm.