2025 Recipients

Adrian Ong Sin Yong

Chinese Puppetry

Adrian Ong Image Credit: National Heritage Board

Mr Adrian Ong Sin Yong is a youth practitioner of Chinese puppetry with over a decade of experience. His practice in Chinese puppetry encompasses Hokkien glove puppetry and Hokkien string puppetry. Balancing his passion for puppetry with his full-time job, he regularly performs at major festive occasions for deities' birthday celebrations in local temples. Besides being a puppeteer, he has taken up multiple roles of scriptwriter, sound technician, and stage builder to ensure the continuity of his practice. Recognising the declining availability of live musicians, he has innovatively incorporated pre-recorded music and electronic drum kits as alternatives to traditional live accompaniment while retaining the cultural integrity of the practice. He actively mentors young participants, including his niece and peers, by sharing puppetry skills, voice performance techniques, and cultural significance through cultural and community events, as well as staging rehearsals in his own home.

Banupriya Ponnarasu

Indian Dance Forms

Banupriya Ponnarasu Image Credit: National Heritage Board

Ms Banupriya Ponnarasu is a multifaceted performing artist with over two decades of experience in traditional Indian dance forms, specialising in bharatanatyam and kathak. Her artistic journey began at age five under the late Cultural Medallion recipient Mrs Santha Bhaskar, and later continued under the tutelage of the late Cultural Medallion recipient Mrs Neila Sathyalingam at Apsaras Arts. She maintains various roles as a dancer, cultural advocate, arts educator, and producer, leveraging on Indian dance forms as a medium for community building, multicultural exchange, and mental wellbeing. She founded the Scarlet Mela Festival of the Arts (SMFA), a biennial roving incubation programme that supports emerging traditional arts practitioners across ethnic backgrounds in their artistic development while introducing the cultural essence of traditional arts forms including Indian dance to new audiences. She also established Mandala Arts, a dance company that emphasises on lifelong learning, mental and emotional wellbeing. Over six years at Mandala Arts and almost a decade in MOE schools, she has taught over 200 students across institutional and informal settings to deepen their understanding and appreciation of Indian dance forms.

Mohammad Ilyia Bin Kamsani

Dikir Barat; and Malay Poetic Forms

Mohammad Ilyia Bin Kamsani Image Credit: National Heritage Board

Mr Muhammad Ilyia Bin Kamsani is a youth practitioner of dikir barat and Malay poetic forms for over a decade since starting his journey at Temasek Polytechnic's dikir barat group in 2010. He later joined Andika Kencana, one of Singapore's national-level dikir barat groups to further pursue his passion. He plays multiple roles in his practice, including as Tok Juara (lead singer), a composer, and a lyricist. He spearheaded the inaugural Festival Dikir Singapura (Dikir Barat Festival) 2025, the first of its kind in Singapore's dikir barat community, deepening appreciation of the practice in Singapore across historical, social and intellectual dimensions, while ensuring its continued relevance in Singapore. To address a gap in existing literature on the subject, he has published 'Serumpun: Jurnal Dikir Singapura', a dedicated journal that provides in-depth analysis, documentation, and critical reflection on the cultural traditions of dikir barat in Singapore. He serves as the only youth adjudicator (juri) for national and inter-tertiary dikir barat competitions such as Pesta Senandung Rakyat and Piala Suara Serumpun, and has been appointed as Sahabat Sastera (Friend of Literature) by the Malay Language Council of Singapore where he has presented at talks and forums to promote Malay language and literature.

Ng Si Ying

Making of Rattan Products

Ng Si Ying Image Credit: National Heritage Board

Ms Ng Si Ying is a rattan artist and craftsperson who reinterprets traditional rattan-weaving methods through contemporary contexts and mediums. She started learning the craft from Chun Mee Lee Rattan Furniture, one of the few remaining rattan shops in Singapore. Through her moniker, atinymaker, she pushes rattan beyond its traditional boundaries, creating innovative pieces that blend traditional craft techniques with modern design sensibilities. To enhance accessibility of the craft that is typically passed down through oral transmission or informal apprenticeships, she actively shares the craft process and her research on her website and social media platforms. She has conducted rattan-weaving workshops and artist talks in schools and cultural institutions to highlight the craft as part of Singapore's cultural heritage and its significance as a material while demonstrating how it can be reimagined. Her works have been featured in both local and international showcases and exhibitions, including library@orchard, Singapore Pavilion at The Expo in Osaka, 'A Year Made Object' by Objectifs, and 'R for Repair London x Singapore' at the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington, London.

Niranjan Pandian

Indian Music Traditions

Niranjan Pandian Image Credit: National Heritage Board

Mr Niranjan Pandian is a bamboo flautist trained in classical Indian music. He started his practice at the age of 10, under the tutelage of Dr Ghanavenothan Retnam at Nrityalaya Aesthetics Society. He has performed for established ensembles including Singapore Indian Orchestra and Choir, Asian Cultural Symphonic Orchestra, and Singapore Symphonic Orchestra. As the co-founder and creative director of Brahmastra Arts House, he has led notable projects such as ‘7 Wonders of Little India’ which combined visual arts with live classical music, and the Brahmastra Festival of Arts that has integrated VR technology to enhance accessibility of Indian music traditions to wider audiences. To foster cross-genre collaboration, he created platforms like the Singhanagara Contemporary Orchestra and NP Collective as platforms where young artists from different backgrounds can experiment and grow together. Through the Vamshika Quintet, he also champions the revival of bamboo flute ensemble traditions. He actively engages other youth practitioners in his ensembles and projects, involving them in diverse roles in audio engineering, arrangement, and music direction. He provides mentorship to students across MOE schools, LASALLE College of the Arts, and the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), delivering guest lectures on composing for Indian bamboo flutes and crafting Indian rhythms and ragas.

Syafiqah 'Adha Sallehin

Traditional Malay Music

Syafiqah Adha Sallehin Image Credit: National Heritage Board

Ms Syafiqah ‘Adha Sallehin is a traditional Malay music practitioner, having picked up the accordion to learn Malay Asli music in 2007 with Orkestra Melayu Singapura. She is currently the music director of Gendang Akustika, a Malay folk music ensemble in Singapore. She has mentored young musicians in Gendang Akustika's junior ensemble, some of whom continue to be core members of the organisation. She has also mentored students through the Malay Fusion Ensemble at the School of the Arts (SOTA) and has conducted workshops and masterclasses on traditional Malay music in various schools. Her efforts to promote and further her practice include her notation project for Malay classical music, with the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YST). While the practice is traditionally transmitted through apprenticeships, the project marks a notable shift by using conservatory methods to document and advance Malay classical music. She has also produced ‘Dendang Warisan’, a series featuring original compositions that address a gap in Malay Asli repertoire written in and about Singapore.

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2025 Recipients