Former Shaw's Malay Film Studios

Former Shaw's Malay Film Studios


The Shaw Malay Film Studio was the heartbeat of the Singaporean Malay film industry. During the golden years of Malay film from the 1950s-1960s, the studio produced many films that still resonate in the hearts of many Singaporeans. Indeed, the films produced from this location formed a large part of the memories of the people from our parents and grandparents generation. 

However, for all the memories that this place produced, this place had to be the most unassuming in terms of its exterior. What greeted us was a corrugated zinc gate that was half closed. There was no sign of any brochures, tour guides, ticketing counters or any form of historical influence for that matter.
The gate that greeted us when we arrived 

However, as the saying goes, 'never judge a book by its cover'. Our attitude shifted dramatically once we stepped into the studio. Large cinema projectors greeted us and reminded of the times past, when films were shot in rolls of film and not stored in digital hard drives. That set the mood for our exploration into the studio. As we walked further in, we noticed that there were numerous movie posters that were hung outside each building. Having grown up in the era of Hollywood blockbusters, seeing these movie posters were certainly a glimpse into the past, into a time where movies were done without the fanfare of CGI as we see today. This change is even reflected in the posters, where they were mostly just images of the actors posing for the poster, a far cry from the heavily edited movie posters that we see today. 

The large movie projectors right by the entrance 

One name that was recurring on many of the posters was that of Mr P Ramlee. This was such an interesting moment for me as I have frequently heard his name being brought up in my family conversations back home, with both my parents and grandparents talking fondly about him. Finally seeing his work in person made me feel a connection with the past, as if I could finally begin to relate with the stories that my family members talk about.

A small hut containing some old movie posters and a faded 'SB' logo

We then tried to open the entrances leading to some of the movie sets on site. To our dismay however, we found that many of the buildings were locked, preventing us from going to and exploring the movie sets that this studio housed. In fact, other than the scattered old film equipment and film posters, the place barely felt like a heritage landmark. 

Movie posters at the side of the building
The faded 'SB' logo prominently displayed




















We all felt this sense of injustice about how such an important place in our country's heritage was left in neglect and without proper preservation. Posters were left out in the sun, discolouring and fading as time passes, and the roads were cracked and uneven. We were all left with this question - How is it that this place fell into such a state of neglect while other places managed to constantly expand and develop to better showcase their preserved artifacts? Hopefully, this place will be preserved in a better fashion in the near future, before some of its artifacts are destroyed by the elements forever.



Upon leaving the studio, the gates were immediately shut behind us, catching us off guard. We then realised that in our haste to enter the studio, we missed a sign that was displayed which read 'NO UNAUTHORISED ENTRY'. Could it be that this place was no longer open to the public? We were certainly given that impression. This further reinforced our thought that this place needed to be better established as a heritage site so as to better preserve this aspect of our history that is fast disappearing. 


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