Cathay known China under names similar to "Cathay", that country was known to the peoples of South-East Asia and India under names similar to "China" (cf. e.g. "Cina" in modern Malay). Meanwhile, in China itself, people usually referred to their nation state based on the name of the ruling dynasty, e.g. "Da Ming Guo" ("the kingdom of the Great Ming"), or as the "Middle Kingdom" ("Zhongguo" 中國); see also Names of China for details. When the Portuguese reached South-East Asia (Afonso de Albuquerque conquering Malacca in 1511) and the southern coast of China (Jorge Álvares reaching the Pearl River estuary in
Cathay Organisation of the 1980s, Cathay Organisation rationalised its cinema business, selling out their cinema operations in Malaysia. In Singapore, Cathay closed the only drive-in cinema in Jurong and chose to move with the trends and operated only cineplexes. It converted its stand-alone cinemas into multi-screenswhere. In 1990, Cathay opened The Picturehouse, Singapore's first arthouse cinema and the following year, Cathay Cinema was converted into a 3 screen cineplex. The 1990s saw Cathay Bowl opening bowling alleys in major parts of the island. Cathay Properties was incorporated, providing property management and maintenance services for facilities operated by Cathay itself, as well as