Mother of late Cultural Medallion winner Iskandar Ismail receives Cultural Medallion herself

SINGAPORE - The mother of the late Cultural Medallion winner Iskandar Mirza Ismail will receive a Cultural Medallion herself on Tuesday from President Tony Tan Keng Yam, alongside Chinese calligrapher Koh Mun Hong.

Nona Asiah, 86, who was born Asiah Aman, is recognised for her significant contributions to the Malay film and music scenes in the 1940s and 50s.

Besides singing and acting, Nona Asiah was a dancer, fashion designer and educator. The popular singer was the vocal coach of more than 300 songs, many of which were composed by Zubir Said.

The Cultural Medallion will also be awarded to Koh Mun Hong, 64, for his work in calligraphy, poetry and ink painting.

The award-winning artist also groomed a whole generation of prolific calligraphers. He has been teaching calligraphy and Chinese ink painting at Braddell Heights for the past 30 years.

Five other multi-disciplinary artists will also receive the Young Artist Award.

Besides the award, installation artists Alecia Neo and Ezzam Rahman, poets Marc Nair and Pooja Nansi, and playwright Liu Xiaoyi, who are all 35 years old and under, will have access to a grant of $10,000 to pursue their artistic pursuits and development.

A total of 121 artists has been awarded the Cultural Medallion to date since its inception in 1979 by the late President of Singapore, Mr Ong Teng Cheong, who was then Minister of Culture.

Cultural Medallion winners are each eligible for a $80,000 grant to further their artistic pursuits.

"The recipients of this year's Cultural Medallion and Young Artist Awards are trailblazers in their respective fields and we are proud to recognise and celebrate their successes," said Ms Kathy Lai, chief executive of the National Arts Council in a statement.

"We hope they will continue to inspire more Singaporeans in their pursuit of artistic excellence."

grongloh@sph.com.sg