The well-known Shaw Brothers film company once operated Papar's sole cinema, called New Gaiety. It closed in the 1990s; however, a nearby street is still named "Jalan Cinema" ("Cinema Road") after the now-defunct theatre. Despite repair and refurbishment over the years, the Papar railway bridge looks much as it did in the Second World War. It featured in Allied plans to retake North Borneo from the Japanese Army. References to it and the Papar River can be found in reports on the "Agas" and "Semut" covert intelligence operations, and later in the "Stallion" and "Oboe 6" attack plans.