2022 Recipients

2022 Recipients

Balakrishnan s/o Veerasamy Ramasamy

Craft and Practices Related to Karagam

Image Credit: National Heritage Board

 

 

Mr Balakrishnan has been a karagam practitioner since 1989 and has designed and tied numerous karagam as a volunteer at the Sri Mariamman Temple. In his role as a karagam leader for the Theemithi festivities from 2008 to 2018, he has mentored and advised a younger generation of temple volunteers by imparting his skills and knowledge about the tying of the karagam to them and with other Hindu temples as well. He has also conducted workshops, such as with the Indian Heritage Centre in 2019, to spread greater awareness about the karagam and share the craft techniques involved with the wider public, including with Singaporeans from other racial and religious communities.

Gunong Sayang Association

Wayang Peranakan

Image Credit: National Heritage Board

 

 

Gunong Sayang Association has been staging wayang peranakan productions since 1985 and has produced 29 performances on a near-annual basis. They have retained the use of the traditional Baba Malay language in their wayang peranakan performances, while adding English surtitles to promote the traditional art form to younger audiences. To reach out to contemporary viewers, their plays have also presented and engaged with contemporary themes and issues such as dementia. They also conduct classes on Baba Malay to transmit the traditional language to younger practitioners, and they have been actively involving and training youths to be part of their cast.

Singapore Wushu Dragon and Lion Dance Federation

Wushu, Lion Dance, Dragon Dance

Image Credit: National Heritage Board

 

 

The Singapore Wushu Dragon and Lion Dance Federation manages the national wushu team, which has achieved sporting excellence in regional and international competitions. The Federation also provides platforms for young wushu practitioners to develop their skills, including through organising the annual National School Games for wushu. It also organises major national and sporting events for wushu, dragon dance and lion dance practitioners, including the National Wushu Championships and the Ngee Ann City National Lion Dance Championship. It coordinates and works with its member groups to promote wushu, dragon dance and lion dance to the public, including through community and public performances during festive occasions such as Chinese New Year.

Syed Yusof Alsagoff

Orchid Cultivation

Image Credit: National Heritage Board

 

 

Mr Syed Yusof Alsagoff has been growing orchids since 1960 and has served on the Orchid Society of Southeast Asia (OSSEA) Committee from 1964 to 1997, including 14 years as its President. Through OSSEA’s monthly meetings, he actively shared his knowledge with other hobbyists and professional orchid growers, including younger orchid breeders. He also played a key role in the development of the National Orchid Garden by imparting his knowledge to Botanic Gardens staff. He has registered over 200 orchid hybrids, including the Aranda Zaleha Alsagoff, the first orchid hybrid to receive the OSSEA First Class Certificate. He is one of only two living Singaporean recipients of the OSSEA Fellowship, in recognition of his significant contributions to orchid cultivation locally and internationally.

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