Joan Hon (b. 1943, Penang, Malaya –) is a writer and former teacher. She wrote and published a fiction book, Star Sapphire, under the pen name Han May in 1985. She is also the author of a number of non-fiction books, including Relatively Speaking – a biography ...

Sophia Hull (b. 5 May 1786, London–d.12 December 1858, Middlesex, England) became the second wife of Sir Stamford Raffles, founder of modern Singapore, on 22 February 1817. She bore him five children and is famed for penning his biography, Memoir of the Life and ...

Kumarason Chinnadurai (b. 10 August 1968, Singapore–), popularly known as Kumar, is a stand-up comedian, actor, host and drag queen. He made his name at the now defunct cabaret nightclub Boom Boom Room, and was for a time synonymous with the club as its headlining ...

Jonas Daniel Vaughan (b. 27 June 1825–d. 17 October 1891, at sea) was a sailor, public official and prominent lawyer in colonial Singapore. He contributed to many community organisations and activities, promoted scientific observation, wrote on local history and ...

Foo Tee Jun (b. 15 December 1935, Singapore–) is a highly regarded and artistically distinguished salon photographer. His involvement with professional photography began in 1963. Over the years, Foo perfected his skills and experimented with various darkroom techniques ...

Tan Swie Hian (b. 5 May 1943, Pulau Halang, Indonesia–) is a multidisciplinary Singaporean artist known for his poetry, novels, paintings, calligraphy and sculptures. A highly esteemed artist, Tan has received multiple accolades both locally and internationally ...

Ahmad bin Mohamed Mattar (Dr) (b. 13 August 1940, Singapore–), better known as Ahmad Mattar, is a former academic and People’s Action Party (PAP) politician. As the minister-in-charge of muslim affairs, Ahmad spearheaded the formation of the Mendaki Foundation ...

Ho Kah Leong (b. 21 September 1937, Singapore -) a Cantonese, who established his name as both a politician and an artist. The former Member of Parliament of Jurong Constituency also served as Parliamentary Secretary in various ministries. He is an acclaimed amateur ...

Mohammed Saffri Bin Abdul Manaf (b. 3 November 1952, Singapore–) is a scriptwriter, actor, director and comedian. Much of his work has been aired on the local Malay television and radio. A bangsawan (Malay opera) enthusiast, M. Saffri has also written, acted in ...

Haresh Sharma (b. 1965, Singapore–) is the resident playwright of The Necessary Stage, Singapore. A critically-acclaimed playwright known for his socially-conscious plays, he has written more than 100 plays that have been staged in Singapore and abroad, such as ...

Goh Keng Swee (Dr) (b. 6 October 1918, Malacca–d. 14 May 2010, Singapore) has often been called the “economic architect” of Singapore for his great contributions to the development of Singapore into a prosperous nation during his terms as minister for finance and ...

Chua Mia Tee (b. 25 November 1931, Shantou, Guangdong, China–) is one of Singapore’s foremost realist painters. He is best known for his oil paintings that depict Singapore’s vanishing traditional urban landscape. He is also a much sought-after portrait artist ...

Koh Buck Song (b. 1963, Singapore–) is a writer, editor, poet and journalist. He has edited, co-edited and authored books of fiction, non-fiction and poems. He is also a consultant in areas of branding, communications strategy and corporate social responsibility. ...

Alexander Laurie Johnston (b. Dumfriesshire, South Scotland–d. February 1850, Bluehill, Kircudbright, Scotland), a former ship’s owner/captain, merchant, businessman, magistrate and Justice of the Peace, arrived in Singapore between 1819 and 1820. One of the earliest ...

Govindasamy Kandasamy (b. 23 May 1921, Province Wellesley, Penang–d. 20 March 1999, Singapore), better known as G. Kandasamy, was a veteran union leader, politician and community leader. He founded the Amalgamated Union of Public Employees (AUPE) in 1959 and served ...

Major-General William Farquhar (b. 26 February 1774, Newhall, Kincardineshire, Scotland–d. 11 May 1839, Perth, Scotland) was the first British Resident and Commandant of Singapore from 1819 to 1823. In January 1819, Farquhar accompanied Sir Stamford Raffles on ...

Abdul Ghani Abdul Hamid (b. 13 April 1933, Singapore–d. 13 April 2014, Singapore) was an award-winning writer, poet and artist. Writing primarily in Malay, A. Ghani Hamid, as he was commonly known, had hundreds of poems, short stories, essays, newspaper articles ...

José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realondo (b. 19 June 1861, Calamba, Luzon, Philippines–d. 30 December 1896, Manila, Philippines), popularly known as José Rizal, was a doctor, intellectual and patriot. He helped to inspire the Philippine Revolution from 1896 ...

Joseph Yuvaraj Pillay (b. 30 March 1934, Klang, Malaya), more commonly known as J. Y. Pillay, served as a top-ranking civil servant for 34 years from 1961 to 1995. He is one of the pioneers who helped build the economy of post-independence Singapore. One of his ...

Kuo Pao Kun (b. 1939, Xiaoguo village, Hebei, China–d. 10 September 2002, Singapore) was a playwright who produced plays in both English and Chinese. He is considered one of the most significant dramatists in Singapore and a pioneer of Singapore theatre. Many of ...