Goh Eng Wah, the film distributor, was one of the pioneers in the Singapore movie industry. He was the founder of the Eng Wah cinemas every Singaporean is familiar with.
Goh was born in 1923 in Muar, Malaya. After secondary school, his education was interrupted by the Japanese Occupation and he moved to Singapore in an attempt to evade the Imperial Japanese Army. This proved unsuccessful as Singapore too came under Japanese rule from 1942 to 1945.
In 1945, he began his career by opening a cinema at Victory Theatre in Geylang. Although it showed mostly Japanese propaganda films, the cinema was popular and soon they were able to expand to the Happy Theatre. Two years later, Goh became the sole owner of the two and he proceeded to acquire other theatres.
Eng Wah Th...
Goh Eng Wah, the film distributor, was one of the pioneers in the Singapore movie industry. He was the founder of the Eng Wah cinemas every Singaporean is familiar with.
Goh was born in 1923 in Muar, Malaya. After secondary school, his education was interrupted by the Japanese Occupation and he moved to Singapore in an attempt to evade the Imperial Japanese Army. This proved unsuccessful as Singapore too came under Japanese rule from 1942 to 1945.
In 1945, he began his career by opening a cinema at Victory Theatre in Geylang. Although it showed mostly Japanese propaganda films, the cinema was popular and soon they were able to expand to the Happy Theatre. Two years later, Goh became the sole owner of the two and he proceeded to acquire other theatres.
Eng Wah Theatres Organisation Pte Ltd was established in 1968, and the firm grew to become the leading film distributor in the 1980s. Goh also ventured into film production, financing several movies. Eng Wah became the first cinema operator to be listed in the SGX, on 4 July 1994.
Ever enterprising, Goh opened a branch of the Crazy Horse Paris Cabaret in December 2005. His company eventually owned 26 theatre halls, and today Eng Wah Global Pte Ltd has businesses spanning the entertainment, property, hospitality and lifestyle sectors in Singapore and Malaysia. Goh and his daughter, Goh Min Yen, completed a reverse takeover of Eng Wah in 2008.
As part of Singapore’s 50th birthday celebrations, Goh received the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry SG50 Outstanding Chinese Business Pioneers Award. He suffered heart failure and passed away on 5 September, 2015, at the age of 92.
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