Yishun in the 1990s: Northpoint and Yishun 10 Before the Makeover

Northpoint when it was one white box

Northpoint Shopping Centre opened in November 1992, right next to Yishun MRT, which had been the end of the North South Line since December 1988. The signs on the facade tell you the decade: Cold Storage Supermarket, Toys R Us, John Little. Inside it was pink and grey floor tiles, twin escalators and school kids in uniform coming down them.

It is Northpoint City now, with a South Wing added in December 2017 and 400-plus shops. We still gave it 9/10 in our north Singapore malls ranking.

Yishun 10, the spaceship cinema

Yishun 10 opened in May 1992 as Singapore's first multiplex, 10 screens under one roof. Architect Geoff Malone was briefed to make it look like a rocket ship that had landed in Yishun, hence the neon, the red and silver cladding and the sci-fi ceiling in the lobby. That lobby photo, full of people in tucked-in polo tees and high-waist jeans, is the whole 90s in one frame.

The neon went grey in a 2010 renovation. Frasers Property now owns the building, and in May 2026 the URA proposed rezoning the site for housing with shops on the ground floor. GV was still screening there at the time, but the spaceship is living on borrowed time.