Jannie Chan Siew Lee (Dato’ Dr) (b. 7 May 1945, Ipoh, Malaysia–), commonly known by her former matrimonial name, Jannie Tay, is the co-founder of luxury watch retail group, The Hour Glass. She was named one of the 50 winners of the inaugural Leading Women Entrepreneurs ...

Richard Tay Tian Hoe (b. 195?, Singapore–) is the group managing director of YHI International Limited, a Singapore public-listed company that distributes automotive and industrial products. The company is also an original design manufacturer (ODM) for alloy wheels. ...

George Quek Meng Tong is the founder and chairman of BreadTalk Group, famous for the BreadTalk bakery chain. He began his foray into the food and beverage business in Taiwan, selling dragon candy in 1982, before moving into the food court business in 1993. He started ...

Ivan Heng (b. 1963, Singapore–), an accomplished stage actor and director, is the founding artistic director of theatre company Wild Rice. He has acted and directed many Singapore theatre productions and his works have been performed internationally in Europe, ...

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 ...

Henry Nicholas Ridley (CMG) (FRS) (b. 10 December 1855, West Harling, Norfolk, England–d. 24 October 1956, Kew, Surrey, England) is the first director of the Singapore Botanic Gardens from 1888 to 1912. Ridley is also known as the “father of the rubber industry”, ...

Karl Richard Hanitsch (Dr) (b. 22 December 1860, Grossenstien, Sachsen-Altenburg, Germany–d. 11 August 1940, London, England) served as director of the Raffles Library and Museum for 24 years, from 1895 to 1919. He became the first director of the Raffles Museum ...

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 ...

Sabri Buang (b. 1964, Singapore–d. 26 March 2021) is both a writer and director of theatre and television in Singapore and abroad. In his earlier days, Sabri acted in Malay dramas for both theatre and television, and has built up a body of directorial works in ...

Lut Ali (b. 1 June 1957– ) is a well-known actor, television producer, playwright and director of Malay theatre and drama in Singapore. A graduate of Edith Cowan University in Australia, Lut was conferred the National Arts Council’s Young Artist Award in 1993 for ...

Yoke-Lan Wicks was the deputy director of the National Library, Singapore, from 1970 to 1988, and thereafter its director from 1988 to 1992.

Humphrey Morrison Burkill (b. 8 December 1914, Singapore—12 July 2006, Plymouth, United Kingdom) was the director of the Singapore Botanic Gardens from 1957 to 1969. He was the son of former Gardens director, Isaac Henry Burkill. In 1992, the Director’s House in ...

Ramachandran Rasu Naidu (b. 5 September 1942, Malaysia–) is the executive director of the National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS). He was formerly the deputy chief executive of the National Library Board and the director of National Library Singapore. ...

S. Varathan (b. 22 February 1934, Singapore –), recipient of the National Arts Council Cultural Medallion in 1984, has played an active role in the local Tamil drama scene as an artiste, director, founder, producer, writer and researcher.

Richard Eric Holttum (b. 20 July 1895, Linton, Cambridgeshire, England–d. 18 September 1990, London) was director of the Singapore Botanic Gardens from 1925 to 1949. He assumed directorship in 1925 when I. H. Burkill retired. Holttum was instrumental in raising ...

Playwright, director, producer and actor, Almahdi Al-Haj Ibrahim (b. 1946, Singapore-), better known as Nadiputra, is considered by many in the Malay community as the reigning patriarch of Malay theatre. He has been involved in drama for more than three decades, ...

Hossan Leong (b. 1969, Singapore–) is an actor, comedian, director, television and radio host, motivational speaker and entertainer.

Hedwig Elizabeth Anuar née Aroozoo (b. 19 November 1928, Johor Bahru, Malaysia–) was the director of the National Library of Singapore from 1965 until her retirement in 1988. She has contributed a great deal in promoting, developing and shaping libraries in Singapore. ...

Leonard Montague Harrod (b. 21 May 1905, Horsham, England–d. 12 March 1984), commonly referred to as L. M. Harrod, was appointed Librarian of the Raffles Library on 8 September 1954, and then its director from January 1955 to December 1959. A qualified librarian, ...

Teater Ekamatra was founded by playwright, dramatist and director Lut Ali and his wife Rubie Lazim in 1988 to develop contemporary experimental Malay theatre that fuses traditional Southeast Asian theatre styles with contemporary techniques. This was a departure ...