We take a closer look at the names and faces behind our brand new Top 300 List, starting with the Arts and Entertainment category
Creative and impassioned, these individuals are noted for their determination and for challenging boundaries. They are credited for not only raising the profile of Singapore’s arts and entertainment, but also for adding colour and buzz to our lifestyles.
Glen Goei
The associate artistic director of theatre company Wild Rice, Glen Goei’s The Straits Times Life! Theatre Award-winning The Importance of Being Earnest had a run at the Brisbane Festival in September 2015. His latest film project Pontianak, which he is directing, was one of the 10 films selected to be part of the Berlinale Talent Project Market at the 2015 Berlin International Film Festival.
Chong Siak Ching
Chong Siak Ching is the CEO of the National Gallery Singapore and heads the Visual Arts Cluster. She is an independent director on the board of Singapore Press Holdings, and sits on the National University of Singapore (NUS) board of trustees and Yale-NUS College governing board. She was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 2013.
Goh Boon Teck
Chief artistic director of Toy Factory Productions, Goh Boon Teck was conferred the Singapore Youth Award for Arts & Culture in 2005. The graduate of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts also holds a Masters in Theatre Directing. In celebration of Toy Factory’s 25th anniversary, Goh staged two beloved works, Titoudao and December Rains.
Ivan Heng
The founding artistic director of Wild Rice and recipient of the Cultural Medallion in 2013, Ivan Heng’s career spans many local productions and award-winning plays. He also won The Straits Times Life! Theatre Award for Best Director in 2002. Heng was invited to dine with the Queen of England in 2014.
Eric Khoo
Cultural Medallion recipient and award-winning filmmaker Eric Khoo helms production houses Zhao Wei Films and Gorylah Pictures. His recent works include directing In the Room, which premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, and Cinema, part of the SG50 film anthology 7 Letters, featuring Oscar winner Juliette Binoche.
Gaurav Kripalani
A board member of the National Heritage Board, Gaurav Kripalani is the artistic and managing director of the Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT). The SRT has co-commissioned Peter Brook’s new play, Battlefield, which premiered in Paris in September 2015 and is slated for a November 2015 run in Singapore as part of its world tour.
Kathy Lai
The CEO of the National Arts Council, Kathy Lai is a skilled administrator with a love for the arts and a vision for revitalising Singapore’s arts scene. The former assistant CEO of IE Singapore is also a board member of the National Gallery Singapore. She is an art collector, a competent pianist, and enjoys contemporary literature and the performing arts.
Milenko Prvacki
Artist Milenko Prvacki is a senior fellow at Lasalle College of the Arts. He is also an adjunct lecturer with Australia’s RMIT University. The recipient of the Cultural Medallion Award for Visual Arts in 2012 has exhibited extensively around the world. He was conferred Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2011 for his contributions to the arts and literature, and French culture around the world.
Dick Lee
Performer and composer Dick Lee is the director of Fried Rice Paradise Entertainment and Dick Lee Entertainment. The creative director of the National Day Parade 2015 also composed its theme song, Our Singapore, as well as the music in The LKY Musical. Lee was also the first Asian in the pop genre to be named a Steinway Artist in 2013.
Hossan Leong
Founder of Double Confirm Productions and co-founder of Paul Carr Consultancy, Hossan Leong was awarded the Prix des Ambassadeurs Francophones in 2006 and later named Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2010 for his contributions toward the French and Singapore arts scenes. The events host also gives motivational talks and conducts corporate training.
Ong Keng Sen
Ong Keng Sen is the artistic director of TheatreWorks and is the festival director of the Singapore International Festival of Arts from 2014 to 2017. The 2010 Fukuoka Asian Arts and Culture Prize laureate also founded Arts Network Asia in 1999, to provide microgrants for multidisciplinary creative collaborations across borders, supported by Ford Foundation.
Adrian Pang
The co-artistic director of Pangdemonium runs the theatre production company with his wife, Tracie. The three-time Best Actor winner of The Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards received his 12th nomination for the award for Pangdemonium’s production of Frozen in 2015. Pang also won acclaim for his titular role as Lee Kuan Yew in The LKY Musical.
Rasina Rubin
Rasina Rubin is the director of Galerie Belvedere, an art gallery which houses the works of European and Asian artists. In August 2014, the gallery paid tribute to a panel of pioneer as well as new artists including Sarkasi Said and Dick Lee with an exhibition titled Singaporean Talents: A Celebration.
Janek Schergen
Janek Schergen is the artistic director of both the Singapore Dance Theatre (SDT) and the Choo-San Goh & H Robert Magee Foundation. In his eight years at the helm of SDT, Schergen has led the dance company to achievements in the international and local dance scene. Schergen has also been part of several panels and committees with the National Arts Council.
Eugene Tan
Eugene Tan is the gallery director of the National Gallery Singapore, which is set to open in November 2015. He is the man in charge of the gallery’s largest collection of Singapore and Southeast Asian art. The former programme director (Special Projects) of Singapore Economic Development Board holds a PhD in Art History from the University of Manchester.
Markham Shaw
Markham Shaw is the executive vice‑president for operations of the Shaw Organisation, vice‑chairman of the National Fire and Civil Emergency Preparedness Council and the director of Singapore Cord Blood Bank. The son of Shaw Vee Keng also sits of the board of governors of HomeTeamNS and was appointed chairman of the Orchard Road Business Association in 2015.
Lan Shui
Music director of Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO), Lan Shui conducted the orchestra at the prestigious BBC Proms music festival at the Royal Albert Hall in 2014. The chief conductor of the Copenhagen Philharmonic has also conducted various orchestras across Europe and the US. He received the Cultural Medallion for Music in 2009 and served as artistic advisor to the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra from 2011 to 2014.
Alvin Tan
Alvin Tan is the founder and artistic director of The Necessary Stage and is the artistic director of annual youth theatre festival Peer Pleasure. The 2014 Cultural Medallion recipient is a board member of the National Arts Council and a member of the Syllabus Development Committee for the Arts Education branch of the Ministry of Education to work on an O-level drama syllabus to be implemented in 2017.
Angelita Teo
Appointed the director of the National Museum of Singapore in 2013, Angelita Teo oversaw the museum’s largest revamp of its permanent galleries, which reopened in September 2015. From 2012 to early 2013, she ran the National Heritage Board’s Festivals and Precinct Development Division, showcasing Singapore’s cultural vibrancy through iconic festivals such as the Singapore Night Festival, and continues to helm it today.
Michael Wiluan
Michael Wiluan is the president of Turi Group and CEO of Infinite Studios. He produces and develops television shows and feature films, and sits on the media advisory committees of several schools in Singapore. He chairs the Singapore International Film Festival, and received the Forbes Indonesia Progressive Figures Award in 2014.
Tsung Yeh
Tsung Yeh is the music director and conductor of Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO) and South Bend Symphony Orchestra in the US. Under his baton, the SCO broke two Guinness World Records with the largest Chinese orchestra and the largest Chinese drum ensemble during its Our People, Our Music concert in 2014. He was also awarded the Cultural Medallion in 2013.