Merdeka Special - Edge Out

From premier Kuala Lumpur cinema to car park

Edged out by modern technology

This million-dollar baby — that was how much it cost to build back in 1958 — was located on one end of bustling Bukit Bintang Road.

Classics like Gone With The Wind, The Sound of Music and in more recent times, Saturday Night Fever and Star Wars played here.

In the 1990s, when more people switched to videotapes to watch movies, many cinemas were forced to close.

In 2000, Cathay was turned into a discotheque. But two years and one fire later, the building was demolished.

Today, it is just a parking lot. One wonders if any of the people who park here remember that this was once a picture house, a place where you could escape the everyday world for the price of a movie ticket.