Runme Shaw
Encyclopedia
Tan Sri Dr
Runme Shaw, K.St.J ' onMouseout='HidePop("34304")' href="/topics/Zhenhai">Zhenhai
, Zhejiang Province, China
– 2 March 1985, Singapore
) was the chairman and founder of the Shaw Organisation of Singapore. Runme Shaw and his brother, Run Run Shaw
(1907— ), together known as the Shaw Brothers, were pioneers in the film and entertainment industry in Singapore and Malaya
, and brought to life the movie industry in Asia
, especially the Southeast Asia
n region.
Runme Shaw was also a philanthropist
who started the Shaw Foundation, a charitable organisation
. In addition, Runme was the chairman and president of several government board
s, and a patron
of many organisations. As a result, Runme won many local and foreign awards for his philanthropic work and contribution to the movie industry in Southeast Asia.
Shaw's given name
"Runme" connotes "kindness
" in Chinese
.
nese textile
merchant
Shaw Yuh Hsuen (1867–1920). A native of Zhenhai in China, Shaw Yuh Hsuen married Wang Shun Xiang (1871–1939), and had a total of 10 children, three of whom died at an early age. He had his own import
-export
company
, and was also the owner of an opera
hall
in which Runme Shaw's brother, Runje Shaw
(1896–1975), was its principal playwright
and director. However, the opera business failed.
Runme was educated in traditional Shanghainese schools, learning Confucian classics and classical Chinese literature.
films in China. He established his own movie company, Unique Film Production Company (also known as Tian Yi Film Company) in Shanghai, and started off with silent movie
s. Run Run and Runme (who was then working as a sales manager in his father's trading
company) soon joined Runje in the venture
.
Not satisfied with their domestic market
, the Shaw brothers wanted to seek business opportunities elsewhere. Runme, who was the distribution manager, was given this task. Originally, Runme's destination was Indochina
where he hoped to meet with the film distributor
s, but he was denied permission to land there. When the Shaw brothers saw great distribution potential in the Southeast Asian market where many Chinese migrants lived, Runme chose Singapore as his base.
, the precursor of Shaw Organisation) in Singapore in 1924.
However, for new arrivals like Runme, finding distributors and exhibitors for their brand of silent movies proved a hurdle. As Shanghainese, Runme and Run Run found themselves locked out of the highly protected
market by the dominant dialect faction
s – Cantonese
, Hokkien
and Teochew
– who controlled the local film business. The film distributors believed that these businessmen imported films from China directly and showed them in their cinemas, and so very few wanted to release the Shaw's silent films. There was also an alliance between a major exhibition circuit run by Malayan cinema king Wang Yu Ting and Shanghai's Liuhe Film Company, a cartel
that boycott
ed Shaw films.
Undaunted by the opposition and prejudice
, Runme and Run Run persevered to carve out a market share
for themselves. By 1927, they began operating their own cinema in Tanjong Pagar
so as to show their films. The makeshift timber cinema, known as The Empire, was lease
d to the Shaw brothers at a monthly rent
of S$2,000, a large amount by today's value.
The first film shown at The Empire was a Chinese theatre
play, called "Romance of the Opera", produced by Runme's own company. White cloth hung from the ceiling
served as the projection screen
for the cinema, where the audience
sat on hard wooden bench
es and chair
s. During screening
, musician
s, usually pianist
s, were hired to accompany the action, and this was meant more to mask the noise
from projectors
and the audience than to provide the sound effect
. Only two evening
shows were screened per day. Despite this, the theatre attracted crowds with its offering of Chinese movies.
s grew, Runme ventured into Malaya in the 1920s and 1930s, with Run Run taking charge of business in Singapore. He travelled to small town
s and major cities, including Kuala Lumpur
, Penang
, and Ipoh
, to distribute and show his films. Ipoh was chosen as his base in Malaya, from where smaller towns could be explored for business potential.
Many of the small towns in Malaya did not have cinemas. One of the ways the Shaw brothers would test the market was to set their own temporary cinemas in open fields. Another means was to retrofit
local Malay opera houses into cinemas, by entering into joint ventures with the local owners. Wherever their films proved very popular, the Shaw brothers would build a permanent theatre. In more rural
areas, mobile cinema
s were operated.
In setting up cinemas throughout Malaya, the Shaw brothers usually bought more land than was needed around the theatres. These were Runme's first real estate
ventures, as he reasoned correctly that a successful cinema would benefit surrounding businesses thereby raising land value. With the growing chain
of cinemas in Malaya, the Shaw brothers split their duties, with Runme eventually taking charge of northern Malaya while Run Run the southern half, which included Singapore.
of the late 1920s affected their business, it recovered sufficiently for the Shaw brothers to buy over more movie theatres. By 1939, the Shaws operated a chain of 139 cinemas across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand
, Indonesia
and Indochina. All the cinemas were managed under Malayan Theatres Limited, a subsidiary
of Shaw Brothers Limited. In Singapore, the Shaw brothers expanded The Empire and moved to a brick
building, the Alhambra, on Beach Road. The Alhambra was the first Singapore cinema to have air conditioning
and played films like Errol Flynn
's The Adventures of Robin Hood
.
The Shaw brothers not only made their own movies, but also imported foreign ones which Runme brought in the early 1930s. Runme attributed the success of the Shaw brothers' film business to hard work and consumer foresight, knowing intuitively
the public's taste in films and what appealed to them.
Besides the film industry, the Shaw brothers also expanded into the business of amusement park
s, first in Singapore, then in Malaya. These were modelled after the ones in Shanghai where they were popular with the locals. They acquired and operated two of the three amusement parks in Singapore — New World Amusement Park
at Jalan Besar
and Great World Amusement Park
at River Valley
— from the mid-1930s to the 1980s. The Shaw brothers also started amusement parks in major cities in Malaya like Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh.
put an immediate stop to all the Shaw brothers' cinema and amusement park shows. Runme and Run Run had planned to leave for Australia
with their families, but their plans were dashed when a quota
based on age was enforced on young men leaving the country which Run Run did not qualify. Leaving their respective homes, the families of Runme and Run Run moved in to the newly built Shaw villa
at Queen Astrid Park in December 1941.
With the surrender
of the British forces to the Japanese in 1942, the Shaw brothers and their families fled from their home at Queen Astrid. The Imperial Japanese Army
wanted Runme to produce and distribute propaganda
films. Despite his attempts to hide, Runme was eventually captured by the Japanese. All Shaw cinemas were immediately seized by the Japanese propaganda body known as the Bunka Eiga Gekijio and the Shaw brothers interrogated. Runme was paid $
350 each month to run the films during World War II
, and he continued to supervise the operation of theatres in Singapore and Malaysia. The Shaw brothers were also allowed to reopen their amusement parks to the public.
After the Japanese occupation, the Shaw brothers returned to their movie business. With the impending invasion
of Singapore, the Shaw brothers converted their asset
s into gold
, jewellery
and cash
, and buried them in their back garden
. After the war, Runme dug these up, and rebuilt his theatres and re-started his movie business.
ed to play only Shaw's distributed films. The Shaw brothers had the widest cinema network in Singapore. They also expanded rapidly into the region, and had a chain of more than 150 cinemas and 6 amusement parks in both Malaya and Singapore.
From the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, Runme became famous for bringing kung-fu films to cinemas in Singapore. By 1988, the company was reorganised under the umbrella
of The Shaw Organisation Pte Ltd. Besides movies, the Shaw brothers had also diversified into various commercial and residential property developments, and have more than 15 subsidiaries operating office blocks, apartment buildings, shopping arcades, hotel
s, amusement centres and multiplexes.
s, besides his own Shaw Organisation group of companies.
Runme was the chairman of the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board (now Singapore Tourism Board
) from 1969 to 1976. During his tenure, Runme revamped the running of the board, added more staff and capital
input, and opened tourist offices abroad in countries such as Australia, Japan
, the United Kingdom
and United States
.
His success in turning the Board around prompted an offer for Runme to run as chairman for the Singapore Turf Club
which he accepted. He was also a director
at Fraser and Neave
, presidents of St. John Ambulance Brigade and Alliance Francaise
, and served at the Bank of Singapore, Bukit Timah Saddle Club, National St. John Council and the Shangri-La Hotel
.
Runme was a patron of the National Kidney Foundation
, Metropolitan YMCA, Singapore Association for Mental Health, Singapore National Heart Association, St. John's Council, Society for Aid to the Paralysed, Diabetic Society of Singapore and the Singapore Academy of Medicine.
Shaw Foundation in 1958. The foundation
's main purpose was to "return" his company's profits to society.
The Shaw Foundation donated millions of dollars to many charitable organisations and causes. Many of the beneficiaries were schools, such as Maris Stella High School
, Anglo-Chinese School
and St.Patrick's School(Singapore), where a part of its buildings are now named after the Shaw Foundation. As the chairman of the Singapore Turf Club for 19 years, Runme instituted the club's charitable use of funds for medical research and charitable purposes.
He was also involved in the St. John Ambulance
.
to Peggy, and had two sons (Vee King and Vee Fong) and four daughters (Doris, Vivien, Nora and Sylvia).
of Malaysia. This award gave him the title Tan Sri, an honorific which is the second most senior in the system of Malay titles
. Among his many honour
s, Runme Shaw also received a Meritorious Service Medal
from the Singapore Government and a Doctor of Letters
awarded by the National University of Singapore
.
for two and a half years. On March 2, 1985, Runme Shaw died at the age of 84.
Doctor (title)
Doctor, as a title, originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb docēre . It has been used as an honored academic title for over a millennium in Europe, where it dates back to the rise of the university. This use spread...
Runme Shaw, K.St.J ' onMouseout='HidePop("34304")' href="/topics/Zhenhai">Zhenhai
Zhenhai
Zhenhai is a district of Ningbo prefecture-level city, Zhejiang, and also a town within that district. Located at the mouth of the Yong River 12 miles north-east of Ningbo proper, the town of Zhenhai lies at the foot of Zhaobao Hill on a tongue of land...
, Zhejiang Province, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
– 2 March 1985, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
) was the chairman and founder of the Shaw Organisation of Singapore. Runme Shaw and his brother, Run Run Shaw
Run Run Shaw
Sir Run Run Shaw CBE, GBM is a Hong Kong media mogul.-Overview:Sir Run Run Shaw was born in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China in 1907. There has been no official or formal announcement on the exact day and month of his birth. According to A&C Black published Who's Who 2007, Shaw Run Run was born on 14...
(1907— ), together known as the Shaw Brothers, were pioneers in the film and entertainment industry in Singapore and Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
, and brought to life the movie industry in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, especially the Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
n region.
Runme Shaw was also a philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
who started the Shaw Foundation, a charitable organisation
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
. In addition, Runme was the chairman and president of several government board
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
s, and a patron
Patrón
Patrón is a luxury brand of tequila produced in Mexico and sold in hand-blown, individually numbered bottles.Made entirely from Blue Agave "piñas" , Patrón comes in five varieties: Silver, Añejo, Reposado, Gran Patrón Platinum and Gran Patrón Burdeos. Patrón also sells a tequila-coffee blend known...
of many organisations. As a result, Runme won many local and foreign awards for his philanthropic work and contribution to the movie industry in Southeast Asia.
Shaw's given name
Given name
A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
"Runme" connotes "kindness
Kindness
Kindness is the act or the state of being kind, being marked by good and charitable behaviour, pleasant disposition, and concern for others. It is known as a virtue, and recognized as a value in many cultures and religions ....
" in Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
.
Early life and education
Runme Shaw was the third of six sons of ShanghaiShanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
nese textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
Shaw Yuh Hsuen (1867–1920). A native of Zhenhai in China, Shaw Yuh Hsuen married Wang Shun Xiang (1871–1939), and had a total of 10 children, three of whom died at an early age. He had his own import
Import
The term import is derived from the conceptual meaning as to bring in the goods and services into the port of a country. The buyer of such goods and services is referred to an "importer" who is based in the country of import whereas the overseas based seller is referred to as an "exporter". Thus...
-export
Export
The term export is derived from the conceptual meaning as to ship the goods and services out of the port of a country. The seller of such goods and services is referred to as an "exporter" who is based in the country of export whereas the overseas based buyer is referred to as an "importer"...
company
Company
A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...
, and was also the owner of an opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
hall
Hall
In architecture, a hall is fundamentally a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age, a mead hall was such a simple building and was the residence of a lord and his retainers...
in which Runme Shaw's brother, Runje Shaw
Runje Shaw
Runje Shaw was the eldest of the Shaw brothers...
(1896–1975), was its principal playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and director. However, the opera business failed.
Runme was educated in traditional Shanghainese schools, learning Confucian classics and classical Chinese literature.
Business in Shanghai
With the Chinese movie industry still in its infancy in the early 20th century, Runje Shaw saw the potential in producing and distributingFilm distributor
A film distributor is a company or individual responsible for releasing films to the public either theatrically or for home viewing...
films in China. He established his own movie company, Unique Film Production Company (also known as Tian Yi Film Company) in Shanghai, and started off with silent movie
Silent Movie
Silent Movie is a 1976 satirical comedy film co-written, directed by, and starring Mel Brooks, and released by 20th Century Fox on June 17, 1976...
s. Run Run and Runme (who was then working as a sales manager in his father's trading
Trade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
company) soon joined Runje in the venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
.
Not satisfied with their domestic market
Domestic market
A domestic market is a financial market. Its trades are aimed toward a single market. A domestic market is also referred to as domestic trading...
, the Shaw brothers wanted to seek business opportunities elsewhere. Runme, who was the distribution manager, was given this task. Originally, Runme's destination was Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
where he hoped to meet with the film distributor
Film distributor
A film distributor is a company or individual responsible for releasing films to the public either theatrically or for home viewing...
s, but he was denied permission to land there. When the Shaw brothers saw great distribution potential in the Southeast Asian market where many Chinese migrants lived, Runme chose Singapore as his base.
The Empire
Runme Shaw arrived in Singapore in 1923 to test the market for the Shaw brothers' films. He was later joined by Run Run and they together founded the Hai Seng Co (later Shaw Brothers Pte LtdIncorporation (business)
Incorporation is the forming of a new corporation . The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organisation, sports club, or a government of a new city or town...
, the precursor of Shaw Organisation) in Singapore in 1924.
However, for new arrivals like Runme, finding distributors and exhibitors for their brand of silent movies proved a hurdle. As Shanghainese, Runme and Run Run found themselves locked out of the highly protected
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
market by the dominant dialect faction
Political faction
A political faction is a grouping of individuals, such as a political party, a trade union, or other group with a political purpose. A faction or political party may include fragmented sub-factions, “parties within a party," which may be referred to as power blocs, or voting blocs. The individuals...
s – Cantonese
Cantonese people
The Cantonese people are Han people whose ancestral homes are in Guangdong, China. The term "Cantonese people" would then be synonymous with the Bun Dei sub-ethnic group, and is sometimes known as Gwong Fu Jan for this narrower definition...
, Hokkien
Min Nan
The Southern Min languages, or Min Nan , are a family of Chinese languages spoken in southern Fujian, eastern Guangdong, Hainan, Taiwan, and southern Zhejiang provinces of China, and by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora....
and Teochew
Teochew people
The Chaozhou people are Han people, native to the Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong province of China who speak the Teochew dialect. Today, most Teochew people live outside China in Southeast Asia especially in Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia. They can also be found almost anywhere in the...
– who controlled the local film business. The film distributors believed that these businessmen imported films from China directly and showed them in their cinemas, and so very few wanted to release the Shaw's silent films. There was also an alliance between a major exhibition circuit run by Malayan cinema king Wang Yu Ting and Shanghai's Liuhe Film Company, a cartel
Cartel
A cartel is a formal agreement among competing firms. It is a formal organization of producers and manufacturers that agree to fix prices, marketing, and production. Cartels usually occur in an oligopolistic industry, where there is a small number of sellers and usually involve homogeneous products...
that boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
ed Shaw films.
Undaunted by the opposition and prejudice
Prejudice
Prejudice is making a judgment or assumption about someone or something before having enough knowledge to be able to do so with guaranteed accuracy, or "judging a book by its cover"...
, Runme and Run Run persevered to carve out a market share
Market share
Market share is the percentage of a market accounted for by a specific entity. In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 67 percent responded that they found the "dollar market share" metric very useful, while 61% found "unit market share" very useful.Marketers need to be able to...
for themselves. By 1927, they began operating their own cinema in Tanjong Pagar
Tanjong Pagar
Tanjong Pagar is a historic district located within the Central Business District in Singapore, straddling the Outram Planning Area and the Downtown Core under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's urban planning zones....
so as to show their films. The makeshift timber cinema, known as The Empire, was lease
Lease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee to pay the lessor for use of an asset. A rental agreement is a lease in which the asset is tangible property...
d to the Shaw brothers at a monthly rent
Renting
Renting is an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property owned by another. A gross lease is when the tenant pays a flat rental amount and the landlord pays for all property charges regularly incurred by the ownership from landowners...
of S$2,000, a large amount by today's value.
The first film shown at The Empire was a Chinese theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
play, called "Romance of the Opera", produced by Runme's own company. White cloth hung from the ceiling
Ceiling
A ceiling is an overhead interior surface that covers the upper limit of a room. It is generally not a structural element, but a finished surface concealing the underside of the floor or roof structure above....
served as the projection screen
Projection screen
A projection screen is an installation consisting of a surface and a support structure used for displaying a projected image for the view of an audience. Projection screens may be permanently installed, as in a movie theater; painted on the wall; or semi-permanent or mobile, as in a conference room...
for the cinema, where the audience
Audience
An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature , theatre, music or academics in any medium...
sat on hard wooden bench
Bench (furniture)
A bench is a piece of furniture, on which several people may sit at the same time. Benches are typically made of wood, but may also be made of metal, stone, or synthetic materials. Many benches have arm and back rests; some have no back rest and can be sat on from either side. In public areas,...
es and chair
Chair
A chair is a stable, raised surface used to sit on, commonly for use by one person. Chairs are most often supported by four legs and have a back; however, a chair can have three legs or could have a different shape depending on the criteria of the chair specifications. A chair without a back or...
s. During screening
Film screening
A film screening is the displaying of a motion picture or film, generally referring to a special showing as part of a film's production and release cycle...
, musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
s, usually pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
s, were hired to accompany the action, and this was meant more to mask the noise
Noise
In common use, the word noise means any unwanted sound. In both analog and digital electronics, noise is random unwanted perturbation to a wanted signal; it is called noise as a generalisation of the acoustic noise heard when listening to a weak radio transmission with significant electrical noise...
from projectors
Video projector
A video projector is an image projector that receives a video signal and projects the corresponding image on a projection screen using a lens system. All video projectors use a very bright light to project the image, and most modern ones can correct any curves, blurriness, and other...
and the audience than to provide the sound effect
Sound effect
For the album by The Jam, see Sound Affects.Sound effects or audio effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds, or sound processes used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media...
. Only two evening
Evening
Evening is the period between the late afternoon and night when daylight is decreasing, around dinner time at 6pm. Though the term is subjective, evening is typically understood to begin before sunset, during the close of the standard business day and extend until nightfall, the beginning of night...
shows were screened per day. Despite this, the theatre attracted crowds with its offering of Chinese movies.
Expansion into Malaya
As profitProfit (economics)
In economics, the term profit has two related but distinct meanings. Normal profit represents the total opportunity costs of a venture to an entrepreneur or investor, whilst economic profit In economics, the term profit has two related but distinct meanings. Normal profit represents the total...
s grew, Runme ventured into Malaya in the 1920s and 1930s, with Run Run taking charge of business in Singapore. He travelled to small town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
s and major cities, including Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, Penang
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
, and Ipoh
Ipoh
Ipoh is the capital city of Perak state, Malaysia. It is approximately 200 km north of Kuala Lumpur on the North-South Expressway....
, to distribute and show his films. Ipoh was chosen as his base in Malaya, from where smaller towns could be explored for business potential.
Many of the small towns in Malaya did not have cinemas. One of the ways the Shaw brothers would test the market was to set their own temporary cinemas in open fields. Another means was to retrofit
Retrofit
Retrofitting refers to the addition of new technology or features to older systems.* power plant retrofit, improving power plant efficiency / increasing output / reducing emissions...
local Malay opera houses into cinemas, by entering into joint ventures with the local owners. Wherever their films proved very popular, the Shaw brothers would build a permanent theatre. In more rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
areas, mobile cinema
Mobile cinema
A mobile cinema is a cinema on wheels.An example is the Screen machine Mobile Cinema of Scotland, which provides conventional up-to-date 35mm screenings of recent movies, with full digital surround sound, air conditioning, comfortable raked seating, and full disabled access...
s were operated.
In setting up cinemas throughout Malaya, the Shaw brothers usually bought more land than was needed around the theatres. These were Runme's first real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
ventures, as he reasoned correctly that a successful cinema would benefit surrounding businesses thereby raising land value. With the growing chain
Chain store
Chain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and central management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. These characteristics also apply to chain restaurants and some service-oriented chain businesses. In retail, dining and many service categories, chain businesses...
of cinemas in Malaya, the Shaw brothers split their duties, with Runme eventually taking charge of northern Malaya while Run Run the southern half, which included Singapore.
Expansion in the pre-war years
Although the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
of the late 1920s affected their business, it recovered sufficiently for the Shaw brothers to buy over more movie theatres. By 1939, the Shaws operated a chain of 139 cinemas across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
and Indochina. All the cinemas were managed under Malayan Theatres Limited, a subsidiary
Subsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
of Shaw Brothers Limited. In Singapore, the Shaw brothers expanded The Empire and moved to a brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
building, the Alhambra, on Beach Road. The Alhambra was the first Singapore cinema to have air conditioning
Air conditioning
An air conditioner is a home appliance, system, or mechanism designed to dehumidify and extract heat from an area. The cooling is done using a simple refrigeration cycle...
and played films like Errol Flynn
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
's The Adventures of Robin Hood
The Adventures of Robin Hood (film)
The Adventures of Robin Hood is a 1938 American swashbuckler film directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley. Filmed in Technicolor, the picture stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Claude Rains.-Plot:...
.
The Shaw brothers not only made their own movies, but also imported foreign ones which Runme brought in the early 1930s. Runme attributed the success of the Shaw brothers' film business to hard work and consumer foresight, knowing intuitively
Intuition (knowledge)
Intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without inference or the use of reason. "The word 'intuition' comes from the Latin word 'intueri', which is often roughly translated as meaning 'to look inside'’ or 'to contemplate'." Intuition provides us with beliefs that we cannot necessarily justify...
the public's taste in films and what appealed to them.
Besides the film industry, the Shaw brothers also expanded into the business of amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
s, first in Singapore, then in Malaya. These were modelled after the ones in Shanghai where they were popular with the locals. They acquired and operated two of the three amusement parks in Singapore — New World Amusement Park
New World Amusement Park
The New World Amusement Park was the first of three amusement parks, along with Great World and Gay World , that wooed Malaya and Singapore night crowds from the 1920s to the 1960s. New World was a prominent landmark in Jalan Besar, as it occupied a large area of in size...
at Jalan Besar
Jalan Besar
Jalan Besar is the name of a street in the northeastern part of the Central Area in Singapore, which is its central business district. It is also the name of the electoral Jalan Basar Group Representation Constituency, of which Jalan Basar is a prominent centrepiece...
and Great World Amusement Park
Great World Amusement Park
The Great World Amusement Park also known locally as "Tua Seh Kai" in Hokkien, was the second of three former amusement parks in Singapore, along with New World and Gay World . It was established in 1929 and closed down in 1978....
at River Valley
River Valley
River Valley is the name of an urban planning area within the Central Area, Singapore's central business district.The River Valley Planning Area is defined by the region bounded by Orchard Boulevard, Devonshire Road and Eber Road to the north, Oxley Rise and Mohamed Sultan Road to the east, Martin...
— from the mid-1930s to the 1980s. The Shaw brothers also started amusement parks in major cities in Malaya like Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh.
Japanese Occupation
In 1942, the beginning of the Japanese Occupation of SingaporeJapanese Occupation of Singapore
The Japanese occupation of Singapore in World War II occurred between about 1942 and 1945 after the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942. Military forces of the Empire of Japan occupied Singapore after defeating the combined Australian, British, Indian and Malayan garrison in the Battle of Singapore...
put an immediate stop to all the Shaw brothers' cinema and amusement park shows. Runme and Run Run had planned to leave for Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
with their families, but their plans were dashed when a quota
Quota
-Commerce:* Import quota, a type of trade restriction* Production quota* Sales quota, a minimum sales goal for a set time span* Tariff-rate quota, a type of trade restriction-Electoral systems:* Droop quota* Election threshold* Hagenbach-Bischoff quota...
based on age was enforced on young men leaving the country which Run Run did not qualify. Leaving their respective homes, the families of Runme and Run Run moved in to the newly built Shaw villa
Villa
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
at Queen Astrid Park in December 1941.
With the surrender
Surrender (military)
Surrender is when soldiers, nations or other combatants stop fighting and eventually become prisoners of war, either as individuals or when ordered to by their officers. A white flag is a common symbol of surrender, as is the gesture of raising one's hands empty and open above one's head.When the...
of the British forces to the Japanese in 1942, the Shaw brothers and their families fled from their home at Queen Astrid. The Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
wanted Runme to produce and distribute propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
films. Despite his attempts to hide, Runme was eventually captured by the Japanese. All Shaw cinemas were immediately seized by the Japanese propaganda body known as the Bunka Eiga Gekijio and the Shaw brothers interrogated. Runme was paid $
Banana money
The Japanese government-issued dollar was a form of currency issued by Imperial Japan during the Japanese occupation of Singapore, Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak, and Brunei between 1942 and 1945...
350 each month to run the films during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and he continued to supervise the operation of theatres in Singapore and Malaysia. The Shaw brothers were also allowed to reopen their amusement parks to the public.
After the Japanese occupation, the Shaw brothers returned to their movie business. With the impending invasion
Invasion
An invasion is a military offensive consisting of all, or large parts of the armed forces of one geopolitical entity aggressively entering territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of either conquering, liberating or re-establishing control or authority over a...
of Singapore, the Shaw brothers converted their asset
Asset
In financial accounting, assets are economic resources. Anything tangible or intangible that is capable of being owned or controlled to produce value and that is held to have positive economic value is considered an asset...
s into gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, jewellery
Jewellery
Jewellery or jewelry is a form of personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.With some exceptions, such as medical alert bracelets or military dog tags, jewellery normally differs from other items of personal adornment in that it has no other purpose than to...
and cash
Cash
In common language cash refers to money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins.In bookkeeping and finance, cash refers to current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-immediately...
, and buried them in their back garden
Garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...
. After the war, Runme dug these up, and rebuilt his theatres and re-started his movie business.
Post-war years
The movie industry thrived after the end of World War II, and Runme saw his company's profits multiply. By 1965, the Shaw brothers owned 19 cinema halls in Singapore. There were also 30 independent halls in Singapore contractContract
A contract is an agreement entered into by two parties or more with the intention of creating a legal obligation, which may have elements in writing. Contracts can be made orally. The remedy for breach of contract can be "damages" or compensation of money. In equity, the remedy can be specific...
ed to play only Shaw's distributed films. The Shaw brothers had the widest cinema network in Singapore. They also expanded rapidly into the region, and had a chain of more than 150 cinemas and 6 amusement parks in both Malaya and Singapore.
From the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, Runme became famous for bringing kung-fu films to cinemas in Singapore. By 1988, the company was reorganised under the umbrella
Umbrella organization
An umbrella organization is an association of institutions, who work together formally to coordinate activities or pool resources. In business, political, or other environments, one group, the umbrella organization, provides resources and often an identity to the smaller organizations...
of The Shaw Organisation Pte Ltd. Besides movies, the Shaw brothers had also diversified into various commercial and residential property developments, and have more than 15 subsidiaries operating office blocks, apartment buildings, shopping arcades, hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
s, amusement centres and multiplexes.
Other appointments
Runme Shaw also served on the boards of several government bodies and corporationCorporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
s, besides his own Shaw Organisation group of companies.
Runme was the chairman of the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board (now Singapore Tourism Board
Singapore Tourism Board
The Singapore Tourism Board is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore, tasked to promote the country's tourism industry.-History:...
) from 1969 to 1976. During his tenure, Runme revamped the running of the board, added more staff and capital
Capital (economics)
In economics, capital, capital goods, or real capital refers to already-produced durable goods used in production of goods or services. The capital goods are not significantly consumed, though they may depreciate in the production process...
input, and opened tourist offices abroad in countries such as Australia, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
His success in turning the Board around prompted an offer for Runme to run as chairman for the Singapore Turf Club
Singapore Turf Club
The Singapore Turf Club was founded in 1842 as the Singapore Sporting Club to operate the Serangoon Road Race Course at Farrer Park.It is today the only horse-racing club in Singapore and is part of the Malayan Racing Association, which also regulates the three Turf Clubs in Malaysia, the Selangor...
which he accepted. He was also a director
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
at Fraser and Neave
Fraser and Neave
Fraser & Neave Limited is a food and beverage, brewing, property and publishing & printing industries conglomerate in Singapore.Listed in Singapore, the group’s subsidiaries and associated companies include Frasers Centrepoint, Asia Pacific Breweries and Times Publishing...
, presidents of St. John Ambulance Brigade and Alliance Francaise
Alliance française
The Alliance française , or AF, is an international organisation that aims to promote French language and culture around the world. created in Paris on 21 July 1883, its primary concern is teaching French as a second language and is headquartered in Paris -History:The Alliance was created in Paris...
, and served at the Bank of Singapore, Bukit Timah Saddle Club, National St. John Council and the Shangri-La Hotel
Shangri-La Hotel Singapore
Shangri-La Hotel Singapore is a hotel located in Orange Grove Road, Singapore. Opened in 1971, the hotel is the flagship and the first hotel of Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts...
.
Runme was a patron of the National Kidney Foundation
National Kidney Foundation
The National Kidney Foundation, Inc. is a major voluntary health organization in the United States, headquartered in New York City...
, Metropolitan YMCA, Singapore Association for Mental Health, Singapore National Heart Association, St. John's Council, Society for Aid to the Paralysed, Diabetic Society of Singapore and the Singapore Academy of Medicine.
Philanthropist
Runme Shaw set up the philanthropicPhilanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
Shaw Foundation in 1958. The foundation
Foundation (charity)
A foundation is a legal categorization of nonprofit organizations that will typically either donate funds and support to other organizations, or provide the source of funding for its own charitable purposes....
's main purpose was to "return" his company's profits to society.
The Shaw Foundation donated millions of dollars to many charitable organisations and causes. Many of the beneficiaries were schools, such as Maris Stella High School
Maris Stella High School
Maris Stella High School is an autonomous, SAP, Government-aided, all-boys Catholic secondary and primary school run by the international Marist Brothers at Mount Vernon Road in Singapore. It was headed by Bro. Anthony Tan from 1984 to 2009. Mr Joseph Lim Choon Kiat, the former Vice Principal,...
, Anglo-Chinese School
Anglo-Chinese School
The Anglo-Chinese School ; is a family of Methodist schools in Singapore, and Indonesia.The name is usually abbreviated as "ACS", with the junior college as "ACJC", and its students and alumni referred to as "ACSians" , or "ACS boys" .ACS was the first school...
and St.Patrick's School(Singapore), where a part of its buildings are now named after the Shaw Foundation. As the chairman of the Singapore Turf Club for 19 years, Runme instituted the club's charitable use of funds for medical research and charitable purposes.
He was also involved in the St. John Ambulance
St. John Ambulance in Singapore
St John Ambulance Singapore is a voluntary organisation in Singapore which provides training in First Aid and Home Nursing. Its members also perform voluntary first aid coverage duties during national events....
.
Personal life
Runme Shaw was marriedMarriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
to Peggy, and had two sons (Vee King and Vee Fong) and four daughters (Doris, Vivien, Nora and Sylvia).
Honours
For his contributions to the society, Runme Shaw received numerous awards including the Panglima Mangku Negara by the Yang di-Pertuan AgongYang di-Pertuan Agong
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is the head of state of Malaysia. The office was established in 1957 when the Federation of Malaya gained independence....
of Malaysia. This award gave him the title Tan Sri, an honorific which is the second most senior in the system of Malay titles
Malay titles
The Malay language has a complex system of titles and honorifics, which are still used extensively in Malaysia and Brunei. Singapore, whose Malay royalty was abolished by the British colonial government in 1891, has adopted civic titles for its leaders....
. Among his many honour
Honour
Honour or honor is an abstract concept entailing a perceived quality of worthiness and respectability that affects both the social standing and the self-evaluation of an individual or corporate body such as a family, school, regiment or nation...
s, Runme Shaw also received a Meritorious Service Medal
Pingat Jasa Gemilang
The Pingat Jasa Gemilang , instituted in Singapore in 1962. The Medal may be awarded to any person who has performed service of conspicuous merit characterised by resource and devotion to duty, including long service marked by exceptional ability, merit and exemplary conduct within Singapore...
from the Singapore Government and a Doctor of Letters
Doctor of Letters
Doctor of Letters is a university academic degree, often a higher doctorate which is frequently awarded as an honorary degree in recognition of outstanding scholarship or other merits.-Commonwealth:...
awarded by the National University of Singapore
National University of Singapore
The National University of Singapore is Singapore's oldest university. It is the largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered....
.
Death
On 1 September 1982, in Singapore, Runme Shaw fell accidentally. Although he was able to walk home, he soon thereafter collapsed and went into a comaComa
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
for two and a half years. On March 2, 1985, Runme Shaw died at the age of 84.
See also
- Runde ShawRunde ShawRunde Shaw was the second-oldest of the four brothers, originally from Ningbo, Zhejiang, China, who established Unique Film Productions in Shanghai in the early 1920's, setting the stage for what would become the most prolific film production company in Asia...
, second of Runme Shaw's brothers - Cinema of Hong KongCinema of Hong KongThe cinema of Hong Kong is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China, and the cinema of Taiwan...
- Shaw Brothers StudioShaw Brothers StudioThe Shaw Brothers Studio , owned by Shaw Brothers Ltd., was the foremost and the largest movie production company of Hong Kong movies.From their distribution base in Singapore where they founded parent company Shaw Organization in 1924, and as a strategic development of their movie distribution...
- Shaw House and CentreShaw House and Centre-Shaw House:Shaw House is a shopping mall and the home of Lido Cinema . Lido Cinema was constructed in 1958 as a 10-storey office block, and was officially opened by Lim Yew Hock on 22 November, 1958....