FOR JUST 40 sen, many of us got to buy a third-class ticket to watch a movie. A third-class ticket meant sitting on the first three rows of a cinema with our necks craned to focus on the giant screen in front.
And you can imagine the discomfort if you were seated on the extreme left or right of the first row.
In some cinemas, the class distinction was further aggravated by the wooden third-class seats as cushioned seats were only for first- and second-class as well as balcony seats also known as “upstairs”.
One cannot but feel that cinema operators wanted to punish us for just being too poor or too cheapskate.
Welcome to the 1960s and 1970s – when going to the movies was a real treat, a weekend reward from your parents.
Remember, those were the days when most families were big, and it would be extremely expensive to buy first-class or balcony seats for the entire family, unless you are well-to-do.
