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 to their businesses and personal interests are displayed in the gallery. In November 2006, Cathay Organisation rationalised its business operations and sold its bowling operations to Family Leisure Pte Ltd. In November 2017, Cathay Cineplexes Pte Ltd; a subsidiary of Cathay Organisation was acquired wholly by mm2 Asia Ltd. Cathay Organisation has subsidiaries in Singapore and Malaysia, in cinema operations, film distribution, film acquisitions, hotel management, investment holding, advertising, events management and property management. Cathay Cineplexes Singapore manages Cathay Cineleisure Orchard, The Cathay, Cathay Cineplex Causeway Point, Cathay Cineplex AMK Hub, Cathay Cineplex Downtown East, Cathay Cineplex West Mall Cathay