The Great World Amusement Park, called "Tua Seh Kai" in Hokkien, began its career with some 150 shacks in the 1920s and was developed by one of its landholders, LEE Choon Yung, into an amusement park aimed at lower-income families. Shortly before World War II, it was sold to Shaw Brothers. During the Japanese Occupation, it served as a camp for Australian POWs; after the war, it declined. (1)

Great World Amusement Park reopened in grand style in 1958. There were four movie theatres at the centre - the smaller Atlantic and Canton cinemas, facing Zion Road, and the larger and more luxurious, Globe and Sky cinemas, looking out to Kim Seng Road. Their heyday included the visit of Elizabeth Taylor, who attended the premiere of Michael Anderson's Around The World In 80 Days presented at the Sky. (1)

The park closed at the end of March 1964 but the cinemas continued to play till 1978. Shaw sold it in 1979 to the Malaysian sugar magnate Robert KUOK. In 1986, Midpoint Properties, a member of the Kuok Group, drew up plans for a large S$600 million shopping arcade. Great World City shopping centre was inaugurated in 1997. (1)