e went to all the small towns all no cinema. We just tried a place, one place, two then next place. We just started like that. From this very beginning, we tried travelling shows, you know just like that. Some places had no cinema at all. We had a tent, you know, travelling."
-Tan Sri Runme Shaw, Pioneers of Singapore, Oral History

With Run Run supervising Singapore, Runme took the train north to the larger towns of Malaya like Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur and Penang, in order to establish business ties with local theatre owners. Ipoh was chosen as his base from where smaller towns could be explored for business potential. These 'market surveys' were done by car. With so much territory to cover, both brothers took turns driving through the night, stopping only to drink water from pipes by the road. Where a trip was particularly grueling, even Run Run's wife Mei Chen joined in as a relief driver. Another participant of these ventures was Mr Chin Kim Fook, an early business partner of Runme who would eventually become General Manager of the theatres of Selangor, Seremban, Malacca, Johore, Pahang and Trenggan