Runme Shaw

Tan Sri Dr Runme Shaw (Chinese: 邵仁枚; pinyin: Shào Rénméi; born 1901 in Zhenhai, Zhejiang Province, China; died 2 March 1985 in Singapore) was the chairman and founder of the Shaw Organisation of Singapore. Runme Shaw and his brother, Run Run Shaw, 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.

Runme Shaw was also a philanthropist who started the Shaw Foundation, a charitable organisation. Many of the beneficiaries were schools, such as Maris Stella High School and Anglo-Chinese School, which have a part of their buildings named after the Shaw Foundation. In addition, Shaw was the chairman and president of several government boards, and a patron of many organisations. As a result, Shaw won many local and foreign awards for his philanthropic work and contribution to the movie industry in Southeast Asia.

Shaw's first name "Runme" connotes "kindness" in Chinese.

Early life

Runme Shaw was the third of six sons of Shanghainese 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, was its principal playwright and director. However, the opera business failed subsequently.

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 distributing 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 movies. Runme, who was then working as a sales manager in his father's trading company, and Run Run 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 distributors, 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.

Relocation to Singapore

Runme Shaw arrived in Singapore in 1923 to test the market for the Shaw brothers' films. He was later joined by Run Run and together they founded the Shaw Organisation in Singapore.

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 factions – 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 boycotted 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 leased to the Shaw brothers at a rent of S$2000 monthly, 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 the hard wooden benches and chairs. Despite this, the theatre attracted crowds with its offering of Chinese movies.

Personal life

Runme's son Shaw Vee King is also a member of the Shaw Organization. Educated in all English schools in Singapore, he later attended universities in England (engineering and economics) and Ireland (Master's in Computer Applications).

Honours

For his contributions to society and the arts, Runme Shaw received many awards including the Panglima Mangku Negara by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia. This award gave him the title Tan Sri, an honorific which is the second most senior in the system of Malay titles. Runme Shaw also received a Doctor of Letters by the National University of Singapore.

See also

• Brothers, Sir Run Run Shaw and Runde Shaw
• Cinema of Hong Kong
• Shaw House and Centre

References

• Shaw Foundation, The Shaw Story, 2001. Accessed 7 Nov 2006.
• Citation on Mr. Shaw Vee King for admission to Honourary Fellowship on 1 August 2002