[2] Six months after arriving in Malaya, he moved to Kuala Lumpur where he worked at the 'Tong Hing Long Company', a provision store owned and started by Loke Yew, who took an immediate liking to him.

Yoke Choy's closest friend in Kuala Lumpur was Chan Sow Lin, who held an important position in Loke Yew's company.

Chan's high regard for Yoke Choy's work ethic and integrity saw him frequently praising him in front of Loke Yew.

[2] Even though he started off performing menial tasks, his hard-working and humble nature earned him Loke Yew's trust, who gradually handed him more important responsibilities.

When Loke Yew travelled up north to Perak to explore the possibilities of starting up a tin mining business, Cheong, although young, was left in charge of his provision store.

[2] Crucially, Yoke Choy also managed to diversify his businesses into other areas before the tin ore deposits in the mines were eventually exhausted.

This was at a time when Malayan Chinese businessmen were drawn to a new crop, rubber, which despite its long gestation period before maturity, proved to be a lucrative investment.

His long-held belief that women should be treated fairly led him along with Liao Rong Zhi to found the Selangor King George V Silver Jubilee Home in Kuala Lumpur, which was originally intended as a shelter for poor and aged Chinese women – found sleeping along five-footways in the late 1930s – from raiding Japanese armies during the Second World War.

Together with Chan Sow Lin and other members of the Chinese elite at the time, he was one of the first trustees to be appointed to committee to manage the Sin Sze Si Ya Temple's Property Trust in 1908.

He died at the age of 85 years on 26 May 1958, and like his father, Cheong Keng Yu, was buried in the Kwong Tong Cemetery Kuala Lumpur.

The grand colonial mansion that once stood proudly on the land before it was demolished to make way for Berjaya Times Square, housed officers from the Japanese Army when Japan controlled Malaya during the Second World War.

As a result of this, when Jurassic Park was first shown in Malaysian cinemas, movie-goers queued for hours for the tickets, and the box-office was sold-out for weeks on end.

Sadly, multi-screen cineplexes have since all but driven stand-alone cinemas – showing a single movie at a seating – out of business; and after more than 25 years in operation Rex closed its doors for the final time on 15 November 2002, leaving behind many fond memories.