As a result, Runme won many local and foreign awards for his philanthropic work and contribution to the movie industry in Southeast Asia.

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.

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.

When the Shaw brothers saw great distribution potential in the Southeast Asian market where many Chinese immigrants lived, Runme chose Singapore as his base.

The makeshift timber cinema, known as The Empire, was leased 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 benches and chairs.

During screening, musicians, usually pianists, 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.

He travelled to small towns and major cities, including Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and Ipoh, to distribute and show his films.

These were Runme's first real estate ventures, as he reasoned correctly that a successful cinema would benefit surrounding businesses thereby raising land value.

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.

In 1942, the beginning of the Japanese Occupation of Singapore put an immediate stop to all the Shaw brothers' cinema and amusement park shows.

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.

With the impending invasion of Singapore, the Shaw brothers converted their assets into gold, jewellery and cash, and buried them in their back garden.

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, hotels, amusement centres and multiplexes.

His success in turning the Board around prompted an offer for Runme to run as chairman for the Singapore Turf Club which he accepted.

[1] For his contributions to the society, Runme Shaw received numerous awards including the Panglima Mangku Negara by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia in 1965.