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.

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.

[3] After the Great Depression, the Shaws decided to diversify their risk by branching out from their entertainment business into areas like amusement parks.

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.

This system linked all Shaw theatres into a single network for automated telephone credit card purchases.

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.

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.

Since the incident, there has been a said irreversible effect on trust issues for donations to charitable organisations in Singapore, including Shaw Foundation.

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.