Annex 1
PROFILES
Cultural Medallion 2007
ERIC KHOO KIM HAI (邱金海), 41
FILM
Eric Khoo started his film career with a number of award-winning short films. But it wasn’t until 1995, with his first feature film, Mee Pok Man, that he finally put Singapore on international critics’ radar. The film picked up prizes at festivals in Fukuoka, Pusan and Singapore. It also turned out to be a sleeper hit at the box office and revived an interest in filmmaking in Singapore.
Eric’s next feature film, 12 Storeys (1997), was the first Singaporean film to participate at the 50th Cannes Film Festival. It also garnered a clutch of awards, including the FIPRESCI Award and the UOB Young Cinema Award at the Singapore International Film Festival, and the Golden Maile Award for Best Picture at the 17th Hawaii International Film Festival.
As a measure of his stature and influence, Eric was ranked one of 25 exceptional Asian trend setters by Asiaweek magazine in 1998. In the same magazine the following year, he was named one of the leaders to watch for the millennium.
In 2004, Eric directed his third feature, Be With Me. It was the opening film for the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes in 2005 and the first Singaporean film to be nominated for the European Film Awards that year. It has since won several international awards and shown at film festivals in Toronto, Telluride and Pusan. It has also received international distribution, including the US and Europe.
Eric was a judge at the 10th Pusan International Film Festival 2005. He was invited to direct No Day off, a story about an Indonesian maid, for the Jeonju Digital Film Festival in South Korea. He was the first Singapore director whose films were featured in a retrospective in Korea. The Seoul Independent FilmFestival paid this tribute to him in 2006. In the same year, he was conferred the Singapore Youth Award Medal of Commendation.
Through his production company, Zhao Wei Films, Eric is actively involved in grooming young filmmakers and providing them with a platform to showcase their works. These include the local comedy hit, Liang Po Po – The Movie (1999), One Leg Kicking (2001) and 15 (2003). He also co-produced Royston Tan’s second and third feature films, 4:30 (2006) and 881 (2007).
ISA KAMARI, 46
LITERATURE
Isa graduated from the National University of Singapore with a degree in architecture in 1988. He has just completed a Master of Philosophy in Malay Literature at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Isa’s first collection of poems, Sumur Usia, published in 1993, won the National Book Development Council Award in 1995. He won the Hadiah Sastera, Anugerah Persuratan organised by the Majlis Bahasa Melayu, Singapura for a short story, Pertemuan, in 1997. He also won the Merit Awards for poetry and literary essays in 1993, 1995 and 1997 in the same Anugerah Persuratan.
A historical novel, Satu Bumi, published in 1998, won the Merit Award at the Anugerah Persuratan in 1999. It was translated into Mandarin and published the same year. Satu Bumi was selected for the ‘Read Singapore!’ initiative in 2005. An English translation of the novel is in the pipeline. He also received similar Merit Awards in 1995 for the Saadon Ismail Award, organised by the Persatuan Wartawan Melayu (Malay Journalists’ Association) for his poetry and short story. Another novel, Kiswah (2002) was shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize in 2004, while Menara (2002) won the Merit Award in the Anugerah Persuratan 2003.
The historical novel, Atas Nama Cinta, which revolves around the Maria Hertogh riots, was released last year along with three collections of poetry, Ka’bah, Lorong Wahyu and Cinta Arafah containing three different styles of the Jawi calligraphy. His latest novel, Memeluk Gerhana, which dwells on the post-independence social history of Singapore Malays, was launched in April this year.
Recently, Isa has ventured into writing scripts for TV, dramas and theatre. He also writes lyrics and produces song album and video documentaries. In 2006, Isa was conferred the prestigious Southeast Asia Write Award.
Despite his busy schedule, Isa makes it a point to contribute to the Malay community by conducting creative writing workshops in schools.
YOUNG ARTIST AWARD 2007
KUIK SWEE BOON (郭瑞文), 33
DANCE
Kuik Swee Boon started his dance career with the People's Association Dance Company in 1990. A year later, he joined the Singapore Dance Theatre (SDT), taking on principal roles in full-length performances such as Giselle, Coppelia, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Anna Karenina, Red Shoes, Cinderella and Romeo and Juliet .
Besides classical ballet, Swee Boon is adept in neo-classical and contemporary works such as Jiri Kylian’s Stamping Ground, Graham Lustig’s Borderlines, Stanton Welch’s Maninyas and Goh Choo San’s Unknown Territory. His exceptional dance techniques and refined artistry soon led to him representing Singapore at the 5th Asian Pacific Ballet Competition in 1995. In 2003, he was nominated for the prestigious Benois De Le Danse Awards, an annual international ballet competition.
As a testimony of his standing as a world-class dancer, Swee Boon joined the national dance company of Spain, Compania Nacional de Danza (CND), in 2002. As a Principal Dancer, he collaborated with renowned choreographers like Nacho Duato, Ohad Naharin, Mats Ek, Jiri Kylian and Wim Vandekeybus.
Since 1993, Swee Boon has been actively involved in dance choreography. For instance, working with the Cosmopolitan Dance Group, he presented innovative and refreshing works at the Substation. He also worked with the SDT to create classical-based works for the popular Ballet Under the Stars series.
From 2006, with the experience he has gained from working with Nacho Duato, Swee Boon began finding his own unique style. He presented Somewhere…We hear at the Contemporary Dance Platform – Forward Moves at the Singapore Arts Festival. It was well-received and led subsequently to the National Arts Council commissioning him to choreograph a work for the 8th Asian Arts Festival in Beijing. And since he believes in nurturing young dancers and giving them opportunities to dance with professionals, he took on the challenge of grooming a group of young Singaporean dancers for this project.
In 2007, Swee Boon was invited to choreograph a full-length programme comprising dancers from Spain as well as from Singapore for The Esplanade’s Da:ns Festival.
TING KHENG SIONG (郑景祥), 35
LITERATURE
Kheng Siong graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in Chinese Studies and Chinese Language. A poet and creator of traditional Chinese riddles, he has contributed tirelessly to the development of the Chinese literary scene in Singapore.
Currently a reporter-cum-producer with MediaCorp Chinese News, Kheng Siong’s literary works have been published in Lianhe Zaobao and local literary journals. In 2004, six of his poems were featured in the literary collection, Singapore Literature Landscape 99. His works have also been published in the regional media, including Malaysia’s Sin Chew Daily, Jiaofeng Journal, Hong Kong Literary Journal and China’s Anhui Poetry Journal.
In 2001, Kheng Siong was declared the winner in the World Chinese Literary Reports Competition and came in first for the LycosAsia Chinese Literary Writing Competition. Two years later, again he was one of the winners for the ASEAN Youth Short Story Writing Competition.
In 2004, with the help of a publishing grant awarded by the National Arts Council, Kheng Siong published Room for Thirty-three, his poetry collection which received praise from well-known writers Chen Dawei and Lai Shihe.
Also in 2004, Kheng Siong co-wrote a book which chronicles the history of XinYao in Singapore. It remains the most complete and reliable publication on the XinYao movement to date.
In 2006, Kheng Siong published a book on traditional riddles, Beings from the Riddles Island, which is widely used by riddle artistes overseas as a guide to the development of Chinese riddles in Singapore.
Apart from his literary achievements, Kheng Siong also believes in sharing and imparting his knowledge with youths. He frequently conducts writing workshops in schools. Currently, he is the secretary for both the Singapore Association of Writers as well as May Poetry Society and the vice-president for Riddles Association, Singapore.
PHILIP TAN CHIN WEN (陈竞文), 33
MUSIC
Since picking up his interest in composing and performing at a very young age, Philip has never ceased to startle and impress with his personal but powerful pieces.
Philip was awarded the LASALLE full scholarship in 1997 and was named the most Outstanding Student of the graduating batch with high distinction. After winning the SIA Award of Excellence in the Arts, Philip went on to pursue his Masters in Music at Kingston University in the UK.
Philip is a mainstay in the local and international music scene and has performed as a solo pianist, percussionist, improviser and gamelan player. His all-rounded talent has seen him composing for dance, drama, films, musicals, multimedia, art installation, percussion ensemble, gamelan orchestra, choral, band, symphony and many other ensembles including improvisation with electronic, acoustic and self made instruments/medium. Some of the arts groups and artists Philip has collaborated with throughout the years include the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Wind Symphony, Philharmonic Wind Symphony, Fibonacci Sequence (UK), Strut and Fret (Australia), Tan Pin Pin, Astad Deboo, Angela Liong, Masato Tanaka, Tony Laicer and almost every theatre company in Singapore.
His works of music for film, documentary and multimedia have been performed and exhibited, to great acclaim, in international festivals such as Biennale of Sydney 2006; Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2001 (Tokyo); Transmedial 01(Berlin); Poznan National Museum (Poland); Asian Film Symposium (Philadelphia); International Film Festival (USA); Commonwealth Film Festival (Manchester); Cannes Kodak Emerging Filmmaker Showcase (France), amongst others.
Philip's works, written for the LASALLE Gamelan Orchestra, have also been showcased at international gamelan festivals in New Zealand and Yogjakarta.
As Music Director and Composer, he has won admiration from various multidisciplinary productions with which he has been involved. In 2003 and 2005, Philip received the Life! Theatre Best Music and Best Sound Award for his contributions to theatre music composition.
Since 1991, he has run a number of music and motivational workshops for schools, volunteer centres as well as government bodies such as the Economic Development Board, the Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts and the Ministry for Trade and Industry.
NATALIE HENNEDIGE, 32
THEATRE
Natalie Hennedige graduated from the Queensland University of Technology with a Bachelor of Arts in Drama in 1998. Currently the Artistic Director of Cake Theatrical Productions, which she founded in August 2005, Natalie has always been keen to explore the collisions between the chaos of contemporary life and the traditions of theatrical conventions. Provocative and honest, her eloquent writing and stylised direction have earned her the distinction of being one of the most exciting theatre practitioners of her generation.
From 1998 to 2001, Natalie freelanced as an actor, director, playwright and drama trainer. In 2001, she joined The Necessary Stage as a full-time artiste and eventually became its Resident Director in 2004. With The Necessary Stage, Natalie’s directing works, such as Sing Song (2004) and What Big Bombs You Have! (2005), were nominated for both Production of the Year and Best Director at the Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards.
Under her direction, Cake’s productions have always been avant-garde and cutting-edge. Within two years, Natalie has conceptualised and directed seven main season productions, which played to rave reviews in the press.
Queen Ping (2006) played to sold-out audiences at the Esplanade and was nominated for Production of the Year at the Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards. It was described as a feast for the eyes, the mind and the imagination. Divine Soap (2006), a contemporary re-imagining of the traditional Malay art form of Bangsawan, was commissioned for the Opening Festival of the National Museum of Singapore. Natalie’s latest production, Nothing (2007), which she wrote and directed was described as a spectacular multi-faceted play with a brilliantly crafted journey.
Natalie also works with youths and the community to create productions that not only articulate their realities but also help them unleash their creativity.
Most recently, Natalie was selected to represent Singapore in the ASEAN Theatre and Multimedia Workshop on Ancestral Roots to New Artistic Routes of Expression Reflecting the UN Millennium Development Goals, 2007.
TAN KAI SYNG (陈凯欣), 31
VISUAL ARTS
At 18, Kai Syng was named The Most Promising Young Artist at the UOB Painting of the Year Award. She graduated with First Class Honours from the prestigious Slade School of Fine Arts as the first Shell-NAC Art Scholar. She was also an exchange student at the School of Art institute of Chicago. Later, she pursued her Master in Fine Art at Musashino Art University in Tokyo on a JCCI Arts Scholarship.
Originally trained as a pianist, painter and sculptor, Kai Syng constantly challenges and reinterprets that which are taken as a ‘given’. Her works are often attempts to question notions of ‘reality’ in hybrid forms of expression, be it multimedia installation, single-channel video art, short films, text, ‘live’ cinema or talk-performance.
Her efforts have been showcased all over the world, for instance, at Asia-Europe Mediations, Poznan Poland, Politics of Fun, House of World Cultures Berlin, Singapore Season, ICA London, Open 2003, 6th International Exhibition of Sculpture and Installations Venice, Sonic Process, Centre Georges Pompidou, transmediale 0.1 Berlin, British Short Film Festival, Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, the 3rd Fukuoka Asian Art Festival, Museum of Contemporary Photography Tokyo, Tokyo Wonder Site, Superdeluxe, 3rd Women’s Arts Festival, Seoul, SENI 2004 and the President’s Young Talents 2003.
Kai Syng picked up some awards along the way as well, such as the Certificate of Merit New Visions (video) at the 42nd San Francisco International Film Festival's Golden Gate Awards 1999 and NIFCA Artist-In-Residency Programme in Helsinki 2006.
She was invited to represent Singapore at the Biennale of Sydney 2006 to popular and critical acclaim with her large pink emporium-installation. In 2007, Kai Syng was awarded a public commission to create a permanent work in the city area of Singapore.