Cathay about the country from Chinese books and from conversation with people of all walks of life. During his first 15 years in China (1583–1598) Matteo Ricci formed a strong suspicion that Marco Polo's "Cathay" is simply the "Tatar" (i.e., Mongol) name for the country he was in, i.e. China. Ricci supported his arguments by numerous correspondences between Marco Polo's accounts and his own observations: Most importantly, when the Jesuits first arrived to Beijing 1598, they also met a number of "Mohammedans" or "Arabian Turks" – visitors or immigrants from the Muslim countries to the west of China, who told Ricci
Cathay Organisation "The Straits Times" in 1998. In a "Nominate your favourite cinema" contest conducted by Adpost, Cathay Cineplex Orchard was voted the runaway favourite. Mega Pavilion in Kompleks Bukit Jambul was voted the Second best cinema in Malaysia by listeners on a Malaysian radio channel. In 1999, Cathay Organisation Holdings Ltd became a public-listed company on the SESDAQ with five wholly owned subsidiaries; Cathay Cineplexes Pte Ltd (cineplex operations), Cathay Bowl Pte Ltd (bowling centre operations), Cathay-Keris Films Pte Ltd (film acquisition & distribution), Cathay Cineleisure International Pte Ltd (entertainment centre management) and Cathay Properties Pte Ltd (property management services). The