Company type | Private company |
---|---|
Industry | Media, Entertainment |
Founded | 1928 |
Founders | Run Run Shaw Runme Shaw |
Headquarters | |
Products | Cinemas, Film distribution |
Divisions | Shaw Services (Pte) Ltd |
Website | shaw |
Shaw Organisation is a film distribution company and cinema chain founded by brothers Runme Shaw and Run Run Shaw who went to Singapore in the 1920s to expand their family business founded by Runje Shaw. [1] The company originally operated as a distributor for the Shaw brothers' Tianyi Film Company (also called Unique) in Shanghai. Run Run Shaw later moved to Hong Kong in the 1950s to run Shaw Brothers Studio, whilst Runme Shaw stayed in Singapore to continue Shaw Organisation's operations. Unlike Tianyi, [2] Shaw Organisation does not produce films but distribute them in their theatre's.
Shaw Organisation has a long history in Singapore since its founding in 1928. They bought the land which the Shaw House now stands in the year 1952. The plot of land was originally granted to William Scott in 1845. About 500,000 square feet of land was levelled original Shaw House and the adjacent Lido Theatre.
The company managed single-screen cinemas until the late 1980s, when it decided to build cineplexes to give more flexibility in offering different types of films. The first cineplexes built were the Prince and Jade cineplexes in Shaw Towers, opened in February 1988. Cineplexes have now become the standard for cinemas offering varied shows for smaller crowds.
The Shaw Organisation was founded in 1928 when Tan Runme Shaw (1901–1985) arrived in Singapore from Shanghai. He was the third of seven children of a Shanghai textile merchant, Shaw Yuh Hsuen (1867–1920).
In Shanghai, Runme's eldest brother Runje Shaw had founded the Tianyi Film Company (aka Unique). Not satisfied with the domestic market, the Shaw brothers sought business opportunities elsewhere, especially South-East Asia. Runme, as distribution manager was tasked to search for a suitable investment city. Runme's original destination was Indochina where he hoped to meet with the film distributors. However, he was denied permission to land there and instead, he ended up in Singapore, creating the Shaw Organisation. He was joined by his younger brother Sir Run Run Shaw two years later. [3]
After the Great Depression, the Shaws decided to diversify their risk by branching out from their entertainment business into areas like amusement parks. They brought in ideas from abroad and modelled the parks after those in Shanghai, which proved to be popular amongst the local population.
From the mid 30s to the 80s, Shaw operated two popular fairgrounds – the Great World Amusement Park and the New World Amusement Park.
At its height, the company owned multiple cinemas and amusement parks throughout Singapore, Malaysia and Borneo, and spawned Shaw Brothers Studio in Hong Kong to feed its then-burgeoning operation.
By August 2000, a computerised ticketing system developed jointly with Singapore Computer Systems was launched. This system linked all Shaw theatres into a single network for automated telephone credit card purchases. With its extensive infrastructure, Shaw is now the biggest distributor of Asian cinema. [4] Today, it manages and runs 70 screens in 7 locations in Singapore.
Shaw Theatres has 7 cinemas and 63 screens in Singapore currently.
Cinema | Screens/Halls | Seats | Location | Opening Year | Digital Hall | IMAX | 3D Digital Hall | Shaw Premiere | Shaw Lumiere | Dreamers |
Lido (Shaw House) | 11 | 1978 | Orchard | 1993 | ||||||
Lot One | 8 | 664 | Choa Chu Kang | 1996 | ||||||
Balestier (Shaw Plaza) | 11 | 721 | Balestier | 1999 | ||||||
Nex | 10 | 1285 | Serangoon | 2010 | ||||||
Waterway Point | 11 | 1450 | Punggol | 2016 | ||||||
Jewel | 11 | 828 | Changi Airport | 2019 | ||||||
Paya Lebar Quarter | 12 | 986 | Paya Lebar | 2019 |
Cinema | Screens/Halls | Seats | Location | Opening Year | Closed Year |
Bugis Junction | 3 | 1080 | Downtown Core | 2001 | 2016 |
Century Square | 6 | 979 | Tampines | 1995 | 2017 |
Changi | 3 | 1154 | Bedok | 1980 | 2000 |
Chinatown Point | 2 | 684 | Chinatown | 1991 | 1999 |
Great World | 4 | River Valley | 1936 | 1992 | |
Hoover | 1 | 900 | Balestier | 1960 | 1996 |
JCube | 7 | 1010 | Jurong East | 2012 | 2023 |
Oriental | 2 | Chinatown | 1990 | 2000 | |
President | 1 | 1200 | Balestier | 1973 | 1996 |
Republic | 3 | Marine Parade | 1980 | 1999 | |
Roxy | 1 | 1200 | Katong | 1931 | 1978 |
Savoy | 2 | Boon Lay | 1980s | 1998 | |
Seletar | 8 | 764 | Sengkang | 2014 | 2024 |
Shaw Tower | 4 | 1200 | Beach Road | 2001 | 2009 |
Taman Jurong | 1 | Jurong | 1970s | 1990s | |
Vision | 4 | 1200 | Hougang | 1993 | 2000 |
Woodlands | 2 | 619 | Woodlands | 1980 | 1999 |
Besides its involvement in film distribution, Shaw Organisation had investments in properties [5] as well. The most prominent one is the Shaw House located at 350 Orchard Road with Isetan as its anchor tenant. The Shaw House is actually the organisation's largest project to date in Singapore. It took three years to construct and was finally completed in 1993.
Other than the Shaw House, the Shaw Organisation also owns other commercial properties including the Shaw Plaza, Shaw Centre, Shaw Corner, Oriental Plaza, Balestier Warehouse, North Bridge Road Shophouse and Mackenzie Road Shophouse.
Commercial Property | Type | Location | Description |
Shaw Plaza | Shopping Mall | 360 Balestier Road, Singapore 329783 | A modern 5-storey shopping mall with a 2-storey annexe block. Currently closed for asset enhancement works. |
Shaw House | Office Tower | 350 Orchard Road, Singapore 238868 | A 21-storey office building with a 6-storey retail/ entertainment complex. |
Shaw Centre | Shopping Mall & Office Towers | 1 Scotts Road, Singapore 228208 | A 27-storey office building with a 5-storey retail and F&B mall. |
Shaw Corner | Intermediate Apartment | 12 Boon Teck Road, Singapore 329586 | A 4-storey commercial building. |
Oriental Plaza | Duplex Apartment | 291 New Bridge Road, Singapore 088756 | A 4-storey commercial building. |
North Bridge Road Shophouse | Duplex Apartment | 791/ 791A/ 791B North Bridge Road, Singapore | A 2-storey shophouse with an attic |
Balestier Warehouse | Duplex Apartment | 12A Jalan Ampas, Singapore 329526 | A 9-storey warehouse development. |
Mackenzie Road Shophouse | Duplex Apartment | 13 Mackenzie Road, Singapore 228676 | A 4-storey shophouse. |
Shaw Organisation also owns residential properties in Singapore. The two notable ones are Twin Heights [6] and Hullet Rise. The others are single houses (With the exception of Jalan Sampurna which is a plot of land with two houses).
Residential Property | Type | Location | Description |
Twin Heights [7] | Condominium | 350 Balestier Road, Singapore 329779; 352 Balestier Road, Singapore 329780 | Two 21-storey freehold apartment blocks comprising 2 and 3-bedroom apartments and four penthouses. |
Hullet Rise [8] | Apartment Block | 6 Hullet Rise, Singapore 229159 | A 16-storey apartment block comprising bedroom apartments. |
25 Jalan Sampurna | Semi-detached House | 25 Jalan Sampurna, Singapore 268303 | 2 houses on the same plot of land with symmetrical layouts. |
23 Fernhill Road | Intermediate Apartment | 23 Fernhill Road, Singapore 259075 | A 3-storey intermediate apartment with a car porch. |
45 Coronation Road West | Duplex Apartment | (Duplex House) Singapore 269261 | 2-storey detached duplex apartment with car porch and swimming pools. |
43 Coronation Road West | Duplex Apartment | (Duplex House) Singapore 266204 | 2-storey detached duplex apartment with car porch and swimming pools. |
Shaw Organisation Pte Ltd owns the Shaw Properties Pte Ltd and Shaw Theatres Pte Ltd. Shaw Properties Pte Ltd oversees the operations in property development, acquisition and leasing whilst Shaw Theatres Pte Ltd oversees the operations in film purchase, distribution and the cinema's food and beverages.
The Shaw Foundation was set up in 1957 [9] by the Shaw brothers and is currently one of the largest philanthropic organisations in the world. Most of the money comes from its revenue from the properties under Shaw Properties Pte Ltd. All earnings from the Shaw Centre since the late 70s have been given to charitable organisations.
The largest amount that the Shaw Foundation has ever set aside was SGD 17.7 million in the year 1999. The largest share of the funding went to the National Kidney Foundation and most of its recipients were in the healthcare sector.
In the educational sector, [10] the Shaw Foundation has been a regular donor to the National University of Singapore (NUS) since 1987, awarding around 240 scholarships to date.
Dr. Vee Meng Shaw is currently the chairman of the Shaw Foundation. He is also the eldest son of Run Run Shaw.
The major recipient of Shaw Foundation's donations, the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) of Singapore was caught in a scandal [11] mainly involving the misuse of donation funds of NKF. The incident circled around then chief executive officer, T.T Durai understating NKF's reserves and exaggerating the number of patients to encourage more donations, using the funds for personal reasons such as maintaining his personal car, travelling frequently on first class flights and an installation of a 'golden tap' in his private office suite. Durai dropped NKF's claims against the Singapore Press Holdings on 13 July 2005 after making several confessions during the trial and the entire board of NKF resigned on 14 July 2005.
Since the incident, there has been a said irreversible effect on trust issues for donations to charitable organisations in Singapore, including Shaw Foundation. For NKF itself, donations plummeted from $73 million in 2004 to $21 million in 2013 [12] – signifying the lasting impact of the incident.
On 30 August 2020 at about 4.45pm, a piece of ventilation duct was dislodged on a cinema hall in the nex outlet while screening Tenet , resulting in two injuries. A spokesperson informed that the outlet would be temporarily closed until further notice. The theatre later resumed operations on March 18, 2021. [13]
Shaw Brothers (HK) Limited was the largest film production company in Hong Kong, operating from 1925 to 2011.
Sir Run Run Shaw, also known as Shao Yifu and Siu Yat-fu, was a Hong Kong businessman, filmmaker, and philanthropist. He was one of the foremost influential movie moguls in the East Asian and Hong Kong entertainment industry. He founded the Shaw Brothers Studio, one of the largest film production companies in Hong Kong, and TVB, the dominant television company in Hong Kong.
The cinema of Malaysia consists of feature films produced in Malaysia, shot in the languages Malay, Mandarin, Cantonese, Tamil, various indigenous languages, and English.
Cathay Organisation Holdings Limited is one of Singapore's leading leisure and entertainment groups. It operates the first THX cinema hall and digital cinema in Singapore. The group has operations in both Singapore and Malaysia.
Shaw House and Shaw Centre is a complex of two neighbouring buildings built by the same developer, Shaw Organisation. Located at the junction of Orchard Road and Scotts Road in Singapore, it features the flagship Lido Cineplex for the Shaw Organisation, a major shopping mall with Isetan as an anchor tenant, and two office buildings.
The Cathay Building was opened in 1939 by Dato Loke Wan Tho as the headquarters for the British Malaya Broadcasting Corporation. Located at 2 Handy Road in the Museum Planning Area of Singapore, the building was most known for its air-conditioned theatre known as the Cathay Cinema, then a technological marvel and the first to be built in Singapore. Cathay Building was the first skyscraper in Singapore and tallest building in Southeast Asia at that time. It was demolished in 2003.
Runde Shaw (1898–1973), also known as Shao Cunren and Shao Rendi, was the second-oldest of the Shaw brothers, originally from Ningbo, Zhejiang, China, who established Tianyi Film Company in Shanghai in the early 1920s, setting the stage for what would become the most prolific film production company in Asia. His father was Shanghai textile merchant Shaw Yuh Hsuen (1867–1920).
Runme Shaw, K.St.J was the chairman and founder of the Shaw Organisation of Singapore. Runme Shaw and his brother, Run Run Shaw, 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 Asian region.
Balestier is a sub zone located in the planning area of Novena in the Central Region of Singapore. The main road, Balestier Road, links Thomson Road to Serangoon Road and the road continues on as Lavender Street. The area is home to rows of shophouses, such as the Sim Kwong Ho shophouses, the Balestier Art Deco shophouses, 412-418 Balestier Road, and 601-639 Balestier Road, low-rise apartments and commercial buildings as well as a shopping mall known as Shaw Plaza. Balestier also has another mall, Zhongshan Mall. There are several lighting and electrical shops along Balestier Road, which is also home to the Ceylon Sports Club and the Indian Association. The area is known for its food such as bak kut teh and chicken rice. In the area, there are several apartments, condominiums, and budget hotels.
Runje Shaw (1896–1975), also known as Shao Zuiweng and Shao Renjie, was a Chinese film entrepreneur, producer and director. The eldest of the Shaw brothers, in 1925 he founded Tianyi Film Company in Shanghai, which became one of the top three film production companies in pre-WWII Republic of China, and the beginning of the Shaw Brothers media empire.
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. It provided entertainment and leisure to people, catering especially to the middle and lower income groups of citizens in the past.
Eng Wah Global, formerly Eng Wah Organisation and Eng Wah Theatres Organisation, is a Singaporean company spans entertainment, properties, hospitality, and lifestyle in Singapore and Malaysia.
Goh Eng Wah was a film distributor, and one of the pioneers in Singapore's cinema industry. He founded Eng Wah Global Pte Ltd, a cinema operator specialising in Chinese movies imported from Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Tianyi Film Company, also called Unique Film Productions, was one of the "big three" film production companies in pre-Second World War Republic of China. Founded in Shanghai in 1925 by the Shaw (Shao) brothers led by Runje Shaw, the company also established operations in Malaya and Hong Kong. Although the company's Shanghai studio was destroyed in 1937 during the Japanese invasion, its offshoot in Hong Kong, later called Shaw Brothers Studio, blossomed into a media empire under the leadership of the youngest brother, Sir Run Run Shaw.
Chen Yumei was a Chinese film actress and singer active during the 1920s and 1930s. In her heyday she was one of the biggest stars in China, crowned "Movie Queen" in 1934. At the peak of her career she married Runje Shaw, the boss of Tianyi Film Company, and retired from acting. She was nicknamed the "frugal star" for her efforts at promoting the virtue of frugality.
The National Kidney Foundation Singapore (NKF) is a non-profit health organisation in Singapore. Its mission is to render services to kidney patients, encourage and promote renal research, as well as to carry out public education programs on kidney diseases. As of February 2016, NKF has 29 dialysis centres in Singapore.
Capitol Theatre, briefly Kyo-Ei Gekijo, is a historic cinema and theatre located in Singapore. It was adjoined to four-storey building known as the Capitol Building. The Capitol Theatre was considered one of Singapore's finest theatres in the 1930s during that time.
The Hoover Theatre, also known as the Hoover Live Cinema and the New Hoover Cinema, was a theatre located at the junction of Balestier Road and Jalan Ampas in Balestier, Singapore.
Cathay Cineplexes is a cinema chain established in 1939 in Singapore. The Cineplexes started as Cathay Cinema as Singapore's first air-conditioned cinema and first to screen American and British films in Singapore. The company is owned and operated by Singapore-listed media conglomerate mm2 Entertainment.