Sir Run Run Shaw passes away

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Sir Run Run Shaw passes away

Writer: Naseem Randhawa

A photo of Sir Run Run Shaw the co-founder of Shaw Organisation with one of his Shaw theatres in his earlier days.

7 Jan - Sir Run Run Shaw, a name often associated with the introduction of cinema and film in Asia as well as the Chinese film production, has passed away at the age of 107 in Hong Kong today.

The co-founder of Shaw Organisation (established 1926) along with his brother Tan Sri Dr Runme Shaw had first been involved with the Asian entertainment industry via their production studios, Shaw Studios based in Shanghai, which then led to them introduce the first commercialised cinema chain in Malaysia and Singapore when they arrived to seek new business ventures in South East Asia.

Sir Run Run Shaw passed away at age 107 today.

Sir Run Run Shaw had also launched Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) in 1967 and had produced more than 1,000 films, for which the latter is now maintained by Hong Kong based Celestial Pictures, and the former is still one of the main production and talent management companies in Hong Kong.

Apart from making an impact in the Asian entertainment industry, Sir Run Run Shaw is also credited with producing several other western productions, including Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner".

The commercialisation of the cinema industry in Malaysia is often linked back to two Shanghai born brothers; Runme Shaw and Run Run Shaw, the historic pioneers of Malaysia and Singapore's film industry, who set foot in 1923 to explore the small yet newly existing regional market.

As the Shaw brother's preliminary plan was to distribute their very own film productions to our shores, it proved to be a hurdle when they found the local market dominated by independent theatre houses whom refused to play their films. So to take matters into their own hands, the brothers constructed and operated their very first cinema in Tanjong Pagar (which at that time was part of Malaya) that then led the successful venture to span to more locations nationwide.

Sir Run Run Shaw's brother and business partner Tan Sri Dr Runme Shaw had passed away in 1985 at the age of 84 in Singapore.

The mogul is survived by his wife, Mona Fong Yat-Wah, his three sons and two daughters.