Alexander S. Abisheganaden (b. 31 January 1926, Singapore–d. 7 March 2023) was among the most prominent guitarists in Singapore. A recipient of the Cultural Medallion for music in 1988, Abisheganaden dedicated much of his life to teaching and popularising guitar ...

Lim Hung Chang (林汉精 ; b. 17 October 1949, Singapore– ), better known by his pseudonym Lin Gao (林高), is one of the leading figures in the Chinese literary scene in Singapore. He has used various pen names, such as Lin Yifei (林一飞), Sanmuzi (三木子) and Lin Jingshan ...

David Lim Kim San (b. 7 May 1933, Singapore–) has a diverse career in music which spanned over four decades, including educator, administrator, producer, advocate, vocalist and conductor. Lim’s contribution to the school band and choral movements began in the 1960s ...

Leong Yoon Pin (b. 5 August 1931, Singapore–d. 13 April 2011, Singapore) was a composer, conductor and educator. Described as the doyen of Singapore composers, Leong was well known for his choral compositions, many of which were locally commissioned and performed ...

Teo Eng Seng (张永生) (b. 14 December 1938, Singapore–) was a recipient of the Cultural Medallion in 1986 for his contributions to visual arts. In 1960, The Singapore Free Press described Teo as “a youth who holds the record of being the first schoolboy in Singapore ...

Wee Beng Chong (黄明宗; Huang Mingzong) (b. 22 November 1938, Singapore–), a renowned artist, was one of the first recipients of the Cultural Medallion when it was established in 1979. Among the most versatile artists in Singapore, Wee has done sculpture, Chinese ...

Popular music flourished in Singapore during the 1960s, when a number of local bands became extremely popular with their cover versions of British and American songs as well as original compositions. These bands had a strong following and often played to crowds ...

Established in 1949, The Singapore Art Society (SAS) is considered the first multicultural art society in Singapore. The society aims to foster the practice and appreciation of art in Singapore. SAS organises regular art exhibitions and overseas painting tours. ...

Phan Wait Hong (潘月红) (b. 1914, Shanghai, China–d. 1 September 2016, Singapore) is a key figure in the history of Beijing opera in Singapore. She came to Singapore from Shanghai at the age of 14 and rose to become a lead actress in a professional company that toured ...

Ong Keng Sen (b. 1964, Singapore–), the critically acclaimed artistic director of TheatreWorks, a local theatre company, is best known for his intercultural Shakespeare-inspired trilogy of works – Lear, Desdemona and Search: Hamlet. He was the artistic director ...

Edwin Nadason Thumboo (b. 22 November 1933, Singapore–), Emeritus Professor at the National University of Singapore’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, is widely regarded as the unofficial poet laureate of Singapore. He is best known for writing on national ...

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 ...

Lin Chen (b. 1919, Singapore–d. 29 August 2004, Singapore) was a pioneer theatre director and playwright who was active in the local Mandarin theatre scene in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also an accomplished writer who wrote short stories and prose under the pen ...

Wu Peng Seng (b. 1915, Shantou, China–d. 23 May 2006, Singapore), also known as Goh Peng Seng, was a pioneer photographer in Singapore known for his landscape photography and photographic travelogues. Wu was involved in photography for more than half a decade, ...

Tay Chee Toh (b. 1941, Johor, Malaysia–) is a second-generation Singapore artist. His works, which range from paintings to sculptures and prints, have been associated with figurative and abstract art, and draw on a diverse range of influences including batik painting, ...

Goh Poh Seng (b. 1936, Kuala Lumpur, Malaya–d.10 January 2010, Vancouver, Canada) was a physician, poet, laureate, award-winning writer and entrepreneur. He played an active role in the arts scene of post-independence Singapore. Goh was a pioneer of local English ...

Neo Chee Keong (b. 1960, Singapore–), popularly known as Jack Neo, is an actor, emcee and filmmaker. He was awarded the Cultural Medallion in 2005 for his achievements in filmmaking. One of Neo’s early films, Money No Enough (1998), is one of Singapore’s highest ...

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 ...

Ng Eng Teng (b. 12 July 1934, Singapore–d. 4 November 2001, Singapore) was a sculptor and winner of the Cultural Medallion in visual arts in 1981. He learned painting under first-generation masters such as Georgette Chen and Liu Kang, and furthered his studies ...