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Loke Wan Tho | |
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| 陆运涛 | |
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| Born | 14 June 1915 |
| Died | 20 June 1964(1964-06-20) (aged 49) Taichung, Taiwan |
| Spouse(s) | Kay White (m. 19??;div. 19??) Christina Lee (m. 19??;div. 1962) |
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Loke Wan Tho | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 陸運濤 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 陆运涛 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Tan SriLoke Wan Tho (simplified Chinese:陆运涛;traditional Chinese:陸運濤;pinyin:Lù Yùntáo;Jyutping:Luk6 Wan6 Tou4;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Lio̍k Ūn-tô;Pha̍k-fa-sṳ:Lu̍k Yun-thàu; 14 June 1915 - 20 June 1964) was a Malaysian business magnate, ornithologist, and photographer. He was the founder of Cathay Organization in Singapore and Malaysia and the chairman of Cathay Organization, which included Cathay Cinemas and Cathay-Keris Film Productions. He was also involved in the Motion Picture and General Investments Limited (MP&GI) in Hong Kong.
Born on 14 June 1915, inKuala Lumpur, Loke Wan Tho was the ninth child ofLoke Yew, anethnic Chinese businessman ofCantonese descent, and his wife of mixedHokkien-Hakka ancestry namedLoke Cheng Kim.[citation needed]
Loke was 2 years old when his father died. His early education was in Kuala Lumpur at theVictoria Institution, a school set up by the British for Chinese boys which counted his father as one of its founders.[citation needed]
In 1929, due to his delicate health, Loke and his two younger sisters were taken by his mother to Chillon College inMontreux,Switzerland.[citation needed] Loke was the Swiss County (Vaud) long jump champion in 1932.[citation needed]
Loke then attendedKing's College, Cambridge where he obtained anhonours degree in English Literature and History in 1936.[citation needed] For a brief period afterwards, he attended theLondon School of Economics before returning toMalaya just before the outbreak of theSecond World War.[citation needed]
DuringWorld War II, in February 1942, Loke boarded the vessel Nora Moller, in order to leaveMalaya before theJapanese army could arrive. The Nora Moller was sunk by a Japanese aircraft in the Strait of Bangka. He was rescued, but suffered from temporary blindness and severe burns. Later, he was hospitalized inBatavia and then evacuated toIndia. He survived his injuries, and, after arriving inBomba, was introduced to the Indian ornithologistDr. Salim Ali, who eventually became a lifelong friend and a frequent companion on many major expeditions. Loke credited Salim with inspiring his passion and wrote in his bookA Company of Birds: "Under the guidance of an expert (Salim Ali) my interest in birds which hitherto had been but of a dilettante kind blossomed into a deeper passion."
In 2008,Bombay Natural History Society, published the bookLoke Wan Tho’s Birds. A large collection of his bird photographs is kept in the library of the Bombay Natural History Society at Mumbai.
Loke inherited a large fortune of tin mines,plantations and properties from his father, and went on to grow the company which he formed together with his mother in 1935 calledAssociated Theatres Ltd. The Pavilion Cinema inKuala Lumpur and theCathay Cinema inSingapore were built. Partnerships were forged with other filmmakers such asHo Ah Loke to form the Cathay cinema circuit, which counted 80 cinemas at its peak. Associated Theatres Ltd. later changed its name to Cathay Organisation in 1959.
By 1953, Loke and Ho had started the production of films at Cathay Keris Studios, which were purpose built. Loke's other studios have produced various films, such as Pontianak,Orang Minyak,Bawang Puteh Bawang Merah,Hang Tuah, andHang Jebat.
Loke also bought a Honk Kong film studio in 1955 and started to produce a library of Chinese films to supply to his chain of cinemas which stretched from Singapore to Bangkok. The films were also distributed to the region and Cathay stars likeGe Lan, You Min, Lin Dai, and Yeh Fung. The films became household names inIndochina,Thailand,Burma,Hong Kong,Taiwan,Philippines,Indonesia,Brunei,Sarawak,Borneo, and of course Singapore andMalaya.
The Cathay Organisation, of which Loke was chairman, owned and operated cinemas and film studios, produced Malay and Chinese films, and owned and operated hotels and restaurants. (The Cathay Hotel, Ocean Park Hotel, and their attendant restaurants in Singapore; andGrand Pacific Hotel and The Cathay Hotel Lautoka inFiji.) He also had interests in rubber, palm oil and coconut plantations in Malaysia.
From the end of the war, Loke had become increasingly involved in the business world. Besides his own companies, he was Chairman of Malayan Airways Ltd, Singapore Telephone Board,Malayan Banking; and was among the board of directors at Wearne Brothers,Sime Darby, Kwong Yik Bank,Great Eastern Life, H.A. O'Connor's Ltd,Straits Steamship Co. Ltd, andRediffusion Singapore Ltd.
In his lifetime, Loke was honored by the state ofKelantan inMalaysia, from which he received hisDatoship.
In September 1963, Loke married his third wife, Mavis Chew inLondon.
On 20 June 1964, Loke and his wife were killed in the crash ofCivil Air Transport Flight B-908, along with his chief executives, leaving Taichung after attending the 11thAsian Film Festival.[1][2][3]
Malaya :-_PMN.svg)
Commander of theOrder of the Defender of the Realm (PMN) –Tan Sri (1961)[4]
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