1 A first-ever national school art competition on State buildings, many of which are either conserved or preserved, has been organised by Singapore Land Authority (SLA). SLA held a preview tour on 25 March to five of the 10 selected State buildings. The tour came to a stop at Old School, 11 Mount Sophia Road, where about 35 teachers and students from some participating schools were treated to an art demonstration by the Chief Judge of the competition, Mr Khor Ean Ghee, President of Singapore Art Society.

2 SLA hopes to attract about 300 full-time students from secondary schools as well as higher institutions of learning to participate in the competition. Since the launch of the competition on 16 Feb 2009, SLA has received encouraging response from schools, schools with Art Elective Programme (AEP) and other higher institutions of learning such as Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) and LaSalle College of the Arts. Some schools have even adopted the competition as part of their art curriculum assessment.

3 Aligned with SLA’s mission to optimise land resources in Singapore, all 10 selected State properties had, over the years, been transformed and adapted for new uses ranging from the arts, education, lifestyle hubs, hotel, retail to F&B outlets. Many of them had their exterior façade spruced up aesthetically and interiors renovated. Local full-time artist and a judge of the competition, Mr Goh Chye Khee, who specializes in drawing State buildings and icons like the former Supreme Court and the Cavenagh Bridge, shared his experiences with the audience on how he captured architectural beauty of buildings in water-colour. SLA’s art competition also allows submissions in other forms of two-dimensional multi-disciplinary art, such as acrylic, oil and enhanced digital art. Another judge of the competition is Mr Francis Ng, a young multi-disciplinary artist who has won many art accolades.

4 Besides judging criteria of originality, aesthetics and creativity, 20 per cent of the total score will go towards a 50-word caption to what inspired the young artists to come up with their art piece. Mr Woon Tai Ho, author of “To paint a smile”, is looking forward to the 50-word captions that bring out the essence of the submitted art pieces.

5 SLA’s Director of Land Lease (Private) Division, Mr Teo Cher Hian (张子贤, 土地营运(私人)司长) said, “This is the first time that SLA is organizing an art competition. This is also the first time that an art competition which focuses on State buildings with unique historical and heritage value, is being held. Through this national school-level competition, SLA hopes to raise awareness and appreciation of our State buildings in history, amongst students and the general public.”

6 The competition closes on 5 June 2009 and the prize award ceremony will be held on 8 July at the National Museum. The winning works will then rove to community libraries to enable the public to enjoy the winning art pieces. More information on the competition can be found on SLA’s website at: http://www.sla.gov.sg/artcompetition09.htm

Attachments:
Annex A – Judges’ resumes

Issued by:
The Singapore Land Authority
25 Mar 2009

About SLA
Singapore Land Authority (SLA) is a statutory board with the Ministry of Law. Its mission is to optimise land resources for the economic and social development of Singapore. SLA is responsible for the direct management of some 14,000 hectares of State land and about 5,000 buildings. It is also in charge of land sales, leases, acquisitions and allocation, developing and marketing land-related information, and maintaining the national land information database through digitised land information services. SLA is also the national land registration authority for property transactions, and the issuance and guarantee of land titles in Singapore. It also manages and maintains the national land survey system, including the defining of boundaries or legal limits of properties based on a coordinated cadastre survey system. For more details, visit www.sla.gov.sg.

Annex A
Judges’ resumes

Mr Khor Ean Ghee

Mr Khor Ean Ghee was born in Penang in 1934. He obtained his B.A.(Fine Art) from the Taiwan Normal University.

He has held seven Solo Exhibitions in Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and participated in major exhibitions in Singapore, England, China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. He has won first prize in the Flowers Competition in Penang and second prize in the Watercolour Competition in Taipei.

Mr Khor is one of the Founding Members of the Singapore Watercolour Society and the World Watercolor Painting Federation. Currently, he is the President of Singapore Art Society and Adviser to the Federation of Art Societies, Singapore.

Mr Woon Tai Ho

Woon Tai Ho is former Managing Director of MediaCorp News. He attained Honours in Political Science in 1983 from the National University of Singapore. He had professional training stints in Holland, UK and the U.S.

Tai Ho began his career in MediaCorp as a producer in current affairs. Throughout his journalistic career, he has interviewed Heads of State, movers in the financial world and world famous cultural icons. He launched many TV series that won both local and international awards, the most memorable being Extraordinary People.

He has also launched TV channels, a Malay channel, Suria; an Indian channel, Vasantham Central and also Kids Central and Arts Central. But it was in 1999 when Tai Ho was tasked to head a team to begin an all news channel that defined him. That year he launched Channel NewsAsia. Today, the news channel that looks at world events for an Asian audience is seen throughout Asia.

Tai Ho is also a Steering Committee member of the Singapore Arts Festival, the Singapore Biennale, and a member of The National Arts Council. Mr Woon Tai Ho, author of “To paint a smile”, is the only known local genre and author who looks at cultural medallion Tan Swie Hian’s artist world with refreshing insights.

Mr Goh Chye Khee

Goh Chye Khee was born in Singapore in 1956. Passionate about painting and art since his school days, he picked up painting in the Chinese High School under the tutelage of Mr Chen Wen Hsi and Mr Chen Chong Swee.

He worked in the then Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (now MediaCorp Pte Ltd) as a Senior Scenic Artist for 10 years. In 1990, he decided to pursue his interest and passion in painting as a full time artist.

He paints in several medium from watercolour, acrylic to oil. He specializes in painting heritage and historical buildings in Singapore’s cityscape, such as the former Supreme Court, Padang, Singapore River, Chinatown, and old townhouses.

He limits his paintings to a few colour tones, and uses it in a subtle inter-play of shades and tones with fresh perspectives and compositions. He also paints in vivid brushstrokes, making his paintings distinctly recognizable.

His art collectors are mainly government statutory boards, corporate companies and the Singapore Art Museum.

Mr Francis Ng

A multi-disciplinary artist, Francis was born in 1975 in Singapore. Since completing his Bachelor of Arts degree with Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University (RMIT) Australia in 2001 and Master of Fine Art degree in 2004, Francis has established himself as one of the most important young artists in Singapore.

In 2002, Francis made headlines when he became the first Singaporean to win the grand prize at the Philip Morris Group of Companies Asean Art Awards that year. His work beat over 30 entries from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It was also the first time a photographic work has won the grand prize. No stranger to awards, he has also won the 2002/2003 JCCI (Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Singapore) Arts Award, the 2003 President’s Young Talent Award, the Photography category of the UOB Painting of the Year competition 2004, the 2004/2005 IDC-Design Excellence (Service Industry) Distinction Award and most recently the Young Artist Award in 2006.

In 2003, Francis was chosen to represent Singapore at the prestigious 50th Venice Biennale (Biennale di Venezia). Apart from exhibiting at the Venice Biennale, the prolific artist was also selected to showcase his work at the Singapore Art Museum as part of the President’s Young Talents Exhibition. In 2004, he was again chosen to represent the country in the 5th Gwangju Biennale in South Korea and in 2007, his works were featured in the prestigious ZKM Museum in Karlsruhe, Germany. His paintings, sculptures, photographs, furniture and mixed-media installations have also been widely exhibited and collected in countries such as Australia, Germany, Paris, Denmark, China, Thailand and Malaysia.

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