Artists Profiles

Name/Company: Aimer Group
Country: Beijing, China
Featured in: JING

Established in Beijing China 1993, Aimer has been endeavoured as being one of the top most professional intimate apparel brand establishment since the brand’s founding. It has four main brands: Aimer, La Clover, Imi’s and Aimer men. Aimer Group owns large modern production bases whose annual capacity is over ten million pieces in total, with over thirty four branches (including Hong Kong, Macao and Singapore branch offices) and more than a thousand sales points. They also possessed the largest market share of Chinese lingerie from 2003 to 2008.Combining cultural arts and creative fashion in one and coupled with more than ten years of brand marketing practical experience, Aimer Group holds large-scale fashion trend events yearly and has successfully established a cathedratic museum of lingerie culture and an art gallery suited for arts and cultures scenes, fulfilling its mission of “more love more beauty”.

Name/Company: Alin Mosbit
Country: Singapore
Featured in: Evolution

Alin Mosbit started working in theatre at 17, as a member of Youth Theatre Singapore & STARS, before beginning to produce art education programmes for schools.She has directed her own plays such as Ikan Cantik, Dan Tiga Dara Terbang Ke Bulan (which was also chosen to represent Singapore at the Cairo International Festival of Experimental Theatre 1997) and Main2 (commissioned project by the Esplanade -Theatres On The Bay for the Pesta Raya 2002) before writing and directing a sold out run production Impenjarament, which was staged at the Esplanade Theatre Studio.She published an anthology of Malay plays in the book, BISIK and in 2005, with the help of World Bank and The Necessary Stage, travelled to Banda Aceh to help facilitate the use of Forum Theatre as a rehabilitative tool for trauma-stricken communities in post-tsunami provinces of Aceh. In 2007, she was involved in two restaging of iconic Singaporean works, namely Titoudao by Toy Factory and Off Centre by The Necessary Stage. Being the Founder / Director of Panggung ARTS and she is the recipient of the Young Artist Award for Theatre in 2008.

Name/Company: ACT 3 International
Country: Singapore
Featured in: Waterways

Over the years, ACT 3 International continues to lead the pack in building and developing the Arts in Singapore. This vibrant and creative arts company has worked tirelessly to raise awareness and appreciation of the Arts with its initiatives, educational programmes, and key arts events.Being constantly at the forefront innovating and nurturing interest in the arts. Driven by a deep desire, good taste, and an astute understanding of what it takes to engage an audience, this small but nimble arts company never stopped in its tracks to embark on new and exciting “arts-ventures” to stretch and to challenge itself.As ACT 3 International grows from strength to strength, it is hoped that the audiences it has positively affected will continue to grow in their appreciation of the Arts and be the generation that will foster the growth of an Arts culture and a creative industry for Singapore.

Name/Company: Beatrice Chia-Richmond
Country: Singapore
Featured in: Evolution

One of Singapore’s most prominent theatre directors and actresses, Beatrice Chia-Richmond’s works are often an explosive combination of strong text, a provocative approach, bold designs and purposeful direction. Her works deal with themes of humanity scored by a modern sensitivity.She began her professional career in a play CHINOISERIE at the Royal Court Upstairs Theatre and went on to work on films for the BBC Wales and other independent projects. In 2005, she was awarded “Best Actress” at the Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards for her role in DEAD CERTAIN. Her critically acclaimed directorial debut SHOPPING AND F***ING won two awards at the 2001 DBS Life! Theatre Awards. She was also awarded “Best Director”.Her acclaimed production of BENT was also awarded the prestigious “Play of the Year” in the 2003 Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards.
Beatrice was also awarded the 2006 National Arts Council “Young Artist Award” - the nation’s highest accolade for the arts.

Name/Company: Brendon Fernandez
Country: Singapore
Featured in: Evolution

Brendon has been an actor since 2000. This year in theatre, he has been involved in projects like The Importance of Being Earnest (W!ld Rice), Much Ado About Nothing (SRT), and Own Time Own Target (W!ld Rice). Other stage credits include The King Lear Project: A Trilogy (Kunsten Festival des Arts, Brussels, and Singapore Arts Festival, 2008), Boeing Boeing (W!ld Rice, 2005), Everything But the Brain (Action Theatre, 2005), Bent (Toy Factory, 2003, Play of the Year at the 2004 Life! Theatre Awards), Comrade Mayor (Theatreworks, 2002), Shakespeare’s R&J (SRT, 2001), Rent (SRT, 2001) and The Theory of Everything (SRT, 2000, in both Singapore and L.A.). He was also the male lead for the short film Not Here, shown at film festivals in L.A., San Francisco and Montreal this year. When he’s not acting, Brendon is an Academic Associate at Republic Polytechnic’s Centre for Culture and Communications. When he’s not doing that either, Brendon cooks, watches documentaries obsessively, and plays World of Warcraft.

Name/Company: Bernie Chan
Country: Malaysia
Featured in: Evolution

Acclaimed supermodel/host/actress/beauty pageant trainer Bernie Chan is a multi-tasker who loves challenges and is good at perfecting them. Bernie started her career in Singapore as the lead in Alter Asians: Catherine Listening to the Rain (Double Vision). Her television credits include the Australian-Germany-Singapore series Chatroom Chicks (Southern Star), Sweet Tapioca Porridge (MediaCorp Channel 5), Kopitiam (Malaysia NTV7) and Table for Two (Popiah Pictures).Her first foray into theatre, Spilt Gravy on Rice (Dramalab), was performed twice in Kuala Lumpur due to popular demand, which won her rave reviews for her performance. The play won best lighting, best script, best director and The Audience Choice Award at the inaugural Boh Cameronian Arts Awards. In Singapore, The Business Times complimented on her “stellar performance“. You might also remember her for her role in The Amazing Race Asia 3 (AXN), with her brother Henry Chan.

Name/Company: Chumpol Jangprai
Country: Thailand
Featured in: JING

A master chef and owner of Thai Cuisine Connection who specialises in organising culinary events and consultancy; Secretary General of The Thai Chefs’ Association; Vice President of Thai Association; Managing Director of Thai Cuisine Connection Co. Ltd; Brand Ambassador of Nestle Thailand; Food Technologist of Green Fresh Innovation Co. Ltd. He is also the notable key man who is organizing and working closely with “WACS” World Associations of Cooks Societies.He has promoted Thai foods to the world since 1993 and is often invited as the guest speaker at numerous seminars and events in Thailand, organized by both the private and government sectors. He has also been asked to be the host of several TV programmes.

Name/Company: Dorothy Png
Country: Singapore
Featured in: Evolution

A freelance lighting designer in Singapore since 1994, Dorothy has designed for Check Point Theatre, The Theatre Practice, Singapore Repertory Theatre, Singapore Lyric Opera, The Necessary Stage, TheatreWorks, Singapore Dance Theatre, ECNAD, and Toy Factory Productions. Dorothy also does collaborations with independent artists for their own performances.Some of the overseas festivals Dorothy has participated are: New Idea Theatre Workshop (Taiwan, 2007), The Romaeuropa Festival (Rome, 2007), New Vision Arts Festival (Hong Kong, 2004), International Festival of the Rotterdamse Schwouburg 2003 (Rotterdam, The Netherlands), Festival der Geister (Berlin, 1999).Recent past design credits include Crab Flower Club, Sleepless Town (Toy Factory Productions, 2009); If There Are Seasons (The Theatre Practice, 2009); Checkmate, a dance commissioned by Esplanade & choreographed by Albert Tiong for da:ns festival 2008; La Traviata (Singapore Lyric Opera, 2008); Next Hour, a collaboration with Taiwan and Hong Kong theatre practitioners for New Idea Theatre Workshop, organized by the National Chiang Kai Shek Cultural Centre R.O.C. in November 2007.

Name/Company: Foo Mei Ling
Country: Singapore
Featured in: Evolution

Mei Ling has been a theatre practitioner since 1999. She has played one or more of these roles: producer, assistant director, production manager, stage manager, lighting designer, light operator, sound operator and wardrobe mistress in over 20 productions. They include Lovepuke, I have a Date with Spring, Titoudao (which won 5 out of 9 Life! Theatre Awards 2000), A Tinted Edge (Singapore Arts Festival 2000), ChessMaster, Beautiful Thing, Shanghai Blues, AOTE: Origin 2008, Spirits (International Theatre Festival 2009, Veliky Novgorod, Russia) and The Crab Flower Club (Singapore Arts Festival 2009).She was part of the ensemble that participated in the 5th Asian Arts Festival, which was also part of the cultural exchange between Singapore and China MOU. They performed Titoudao in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Beijing between 18 and 31 October 2002. She was the production manager of Spirits, which was staged at the International Theatre Festival in Veliky Novgorod, Russia on the 26 April 2009.

Name/Company: Fudan Shanghai Institute of Visual Art
Country: Shanghai
Featured in: JING

Fudan Shanghai Institute of Visual Art (SIVA), an Arts Undergraduate college was founded in September 2005 and is jointly established by Shanghai Media & Entertainment Group, Fudan University, and renowned enterprises from the Industry and the Arts and Culture community.SIVA is a progressive and modern institution of Higher education in the Arts with “originality, artistic, practical, and forward-looking” as its school philosophy and creation as its soul, integration of arts education and technique education as its feature. It focuses on training applied visual arts talents for the development of cultural industries and social needs. It has an established international platform to extensively exchange and cooperated with international higher arts education fields. Their members include many famous International Art College presidents from all over the World.

Name/Company: Gani Karim (OrangeDot Talents Pte Ltd)
Country: -
Featured in: -

Gani is a multi-talented artist, highly sort-after choreographer and an arts educator. In the 20 years that he has been in the business, he has travelled and performed extensively in various ASEAN cities as well as Europe delving in a broad spectrum of performance genres which include operas, musical-theatre, cross-cultural, dance-drama, post-modern, multi-media and multi-disciplinary work as well as avante-garde among others. Gani is presently one of the resident judge for Anugerah 2009, the Malay Idol Competition and has just completed his solo performance in Salusuah as part of the Playden Productions by The Arts House and Orangedot Management Pte Ltd.

Name/Company: Goh Boon Teck
Country: Singapore
Featured in: Evolution

A professional theatre director, playwright and production designer for nearly two decades, he was the first recipient of the VISA International Arts Scholarship to study Theatre Directing in London, United Kingdom. He was also a Recipient of Singapore Youth Award for Arts & Culture 2005 and the Creative Director for Singapore’s National Day Parade for year 2007 and 2008.He leads one of Singapore’s most vibrant and productive theatre companies, Toy Factory Productions Ltd. A play written and directed by him, Titoudao, won five out of nine awards at the inaugural LIFE! Theatre Awards in 2001. In the same year, he also received the prestigious National Arts Council Young Artist Award for his contribution to the development of Singaporean theatre.In 2003, he was commissioned by Japan’s Kageboushi Theatre Company to write and direct a six-country collaboration PRISM, funded by The Japan Foundation. This touring production premiered in Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space Theatre and toured to Singapore, Bangkok, Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.

Name/Company: Haikal Johari
Country: Singapore/Thailand
Featured in: JING

One of the very rare Malay chefs who specialises in Modern Cuisine, Chef Haikal Johari is a promising chef from Ember Bangkok and has made his mark overseas.Having extensive international experience working in a variety of prestigious restaurants, he was born and raised in Singapore. Prior to joining restaurant EMBER in Bangkok, he was chef at the Coriander Leaf Restaurant in Singapore, and Sous chef at the famous Pierside, Les Amis as well as Raffles Hotel. Before that he had cultivated and perfected his culinary skills at the Japanese restaurants of two world renowned chefs, Olives by Todd English and L’Atelier De Joel Robuchon. While in Bangkok, he trained with Laurant Gras from San Fransisco for the World Gourmet at the Four Seasons Hotel.Chef Haikal has received many awards attesting to his gastronomic excellence, including the first prize from Singapore Channel 8’s Bon Appetite Cooking Competition in 1998, was the finalist of the Australian Livestock Black Box Competition in 2002. He was recently won Perfect Meal broadcasted on Channel News Asia on 23 August 2009.

Name/Company: Hiroki Yoshitake
Country: Japan
Featured in: JING

Chef Hiroki Yoshitake has been to 35 countries since 2006, studying the various food cultures of the world before finally settling in Paris to gain more intense culinary experience. He has been a Sous Chef for various 1-3 star restaurants in Paris from 2007 till present.

Name/Company: Hirokazu Handa
Country: Tokyo
Featured in: JING

Hirokazu Handa is currently a pastry chef from Happo-en, Tokyo. He graduated from Hattori nutrition and cooking school in Japan and trained at a restaurant in France before moving on to a restaurant in Belgium. He worked as a pastry chef at French restaurants from 2005 to 2007.From 1997 to 2004, he was a Sous Chef at Hotel Grand Pacific Meridien and was a recipient of the third prize in ice category at the preliminary contest of Coupe de Monde’ in 2007. Hirokazu Handa clinched the bronze medal in the category of arts at Japan Cake Show 2002 and won the silver prize at category of “petit gateau” at Japan Cake Show 2001.

Name/Company: Hun Li Heng
Country: Cambodia
Featured in: JING

Born in 1985 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Chef Heng (nicknamed lucky Heng) is the Head Chef of Waterfront Restaurant and cooking class instructor of Frizz Restaurant, Phnom Penh. He began with observing his mother before learning to cook his own daily meal and eventually his friends.He has changed the perception of Cambodian cuisine in Phnom Penh as being tasteless by being claimed as the well-recommended chef of Khmer cuisine in Phnom Penh. Due to his reputation as professional chef of delicious Khmer cuisines, he was featured on television show Taste Matters broadcasted on Channel News Asia on July 11th 2008. He was also selected to be featured on BBC’s top chef Rick Stein’s television series on Asian cuisines titled Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey broadcasted on BBC on July 16th 2009.

Name/Company: Ismail Redzuwan a.k.a Chef Wan
Country: Malaysia
Featured in: JING

A colourful and interesting personality coupled with great culinary skills is what dawns upon this ultimate celebrity chef who is also known for his great entertaining skills on the Asian Food Channel. He is also a food critic and a Malaysian Magazine Writer, Cookbook Author, Entrepreneur all in one.During the last twenty years, he has hosted cooking shows all over the world and also published dozens of cookbooks. Chef Wan, who hosted more than 6,000 food television shows, also bagged the Best In The World Cookbook Award in the Fundraising Cookbooks category at the same event for his book called Sajian Aidilfitri bersama Chef Wan, published exclusively for Avon charities. In spite of all this, he has found time to star on the stage and act in films. He has become a household name in Malaysia and is one of Malaysia’s best-loved icons. Chef Wan is the culinary expert in Malaysia and is now an international Chef. He has cooked for many famous personalities, including the Sultan of Brunei and the former U.S President, Bill Clinton and was recently invited to appear on Oprah’s show by Harpo Productions’ executive producer Erin Reid. Also to mention, he recently won the coveted World Best TV Celebrity Chef beating 250 other greats at The World Gourmand Cookbook Media Awards 2009 held in La Comedie Francaise, Paris.

Name/Company: Jason Vito Suwantika
Country: Bali
Featured in: JING

Jason was born in 1982 in Indonesia. He is a local up and coming professional chef at Nutmegs restaurant at the Hu’u bar in Bali. He is also a member of the Bali Culinary Professionals & Singapore Chef’s Association, a public speaker, script writer and radio broadcaster at MTV Sky, Jakarta - Indonesia. Jason attended At-Sunrice Global Chef Academy in Singapore where he received a Diploma in Culinary craft and service excellence. Moreover, he also won an award in Asian ethnic display category from Food and Hotel Asia culinary challenge. Jason’s quirky and fun personality spills over to the cuisine he creates, making sure that every dish is full of imagination and creativity much to the delight of those he cooks for.

Name/Company: Jacquie Tan
Country: Singapore
Featured in: JING

Jacquie Tan, CEO of Kriston Food & Beverage Group, is a well known woman entrepreneur in the F&B arena. She was finalist in Singapore’s “Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award” (1998) and was nominated for Entrepreneur Award in 2001.Being someone who is progressive and constantly on the look out for new catering concepts and dining experiences, Jacquie was not contented with her company being just a popular homegrown SME (Small Medium Enterprise), and thus, she took her “cater-preneurship” overseas, to the World Exposition 2005 held in Aichi, Japan. Today, under her leadership, the Kriston F&B Group boasts of three divisions - MEGAbites, Kriston and MEGU which caters to different market segments and clienteles in Singapore and overseas. Besides managing the company, Jacquie also provides consultancy services in F&B retail, catering, operations and event concepts. Jacquie most recently conceptualized and implemented the world’s first full butler sky dining experience for the Singapore Flyer.

Name/Company: James J. Tay
Country: Singapore
Featured in: JING

James is an events and production manager with Orangedot Productions Pte Ltd. He had managed a number of commercial, artistic productions such as the Singapore River Festivals, the Singapore Biennales, various Festival Openings, corporate dinners and social events with clients such as Goldheart, SIA, Irdeto and various school musicals. He was involved in the World Bank’s social event at the Esplanade (2006) and is currently working on events for APEC 2009. His production credits include Michael Chiang’s Private Parts (2004), Dim Sum Dollies in STEAMING (2004), Broadway Christmas Carol (2005), Vocaluptuous in Concert (2006), Labour of Love (2007). Apart from being an events manager, he is also a wedding consultant and has administrated arts projects in a number of Secondary schools.

Name/Company: Jiu Jian
Country: Singapore
Featured in: JING

Renowned local multitalented singer/songwriter, Jiu Jian has penned songs for Jacky Cheung, Ronald Chen, Andy Xu and other big names from Hong Kong and Taiwan as well as TCS Channel 8 drama themed songs. A multi talented artiste that acted in local stage plays is an all rounder Producer/Presenter/Creative and music director with both Safra radio and NTUC radio heart.In 2008, Jiu Jian celebrated his 20th years in the music scene with his own concert and produced a fund raising song for the Si Chuan earthquake victims that involved more than sixty local music talents. He is currently the founder and principal of Ko-nen Musical Performing Arts School, a performing school that collaborates with Dance Ensemble Singapore to produce mandarin Dance Musical Plays and groom talents into all rounded performers in the mandarin musical theatre with 1st runner up of 2007 Campus Super Star Alumni Benjamin Hum now under his wings.

Name/Company: Jeremiah Choy
Country: Singapore
Featured in: JING

Jeremiah was a trained lawyer before he decided to venture full time in 1997 as a director/actor/writer/choreographer.He has performed and toured with TheatreWorks since 1988; directing productions such as A Broadway Christmas Carol (Arts House) and Machines (TheatreWorks) in which he was nominated for Best Director in DBS Life! Theatre Awards 2002. He also helped Gan Eng Seng and Singapore Chinese Girls Schools clinch Gold with Honours and Gold recipient productions respectively for SYF Drama Competitions with his great directing skills. He is also the artistic director for major events such as the International Monetary Fund (2006) and International Indian Film Academy Awards (2004). Presently sitting on the National Arts Council Resource Panel for Theatre, Jeremiah is also the co-founder member and President of the Association of Singapore Actors since 1999.

Name/Company: Junita Simon
Country: Singapore
Featured in: Evolution

Since winning Supermodel of the World Singapore in 1995, Junita Simon has continued to achieve great things in her career as a professional model and TV personality.As host of high-profile TV productions such as Fashion Unlimited, Wine and Dine (in 2000) and Dreams in Cannes by Chopard on Channel NewsAsia (in 2005), her natural affinity for the camera is often well-received. Off camera and on the fashion runway, Junita is one of the few Asian models who is represented by Ford Models Paris and IMG Models London. She has modelled for Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Givenchy and Matthew Williamson, and has worked in cities such as Hong Kong, China, Paris and London. In addition, she has interviewed fashion greats such as Yves Saint-Laurent,Oscar de la Renta and Calvin Klein.

Name/Company: Kriston Food & Beverage Pte Ltd
Country: Singapore
Featured in: JING

Established in 1983, Kriston Food and Beverage Pte Ltd (”Kriston Group”) is recognised as a leader in the total catering solutions industry in Singapore.Driven by passion and commitment to quality services and products, the Kriston Group is dedicated to the business of providing a wide range of food & beverage services which include event catering, institutional catering, café management, customised catering services and F&B retail operations and consultancy. With over 25 years of experience and resources both in Singapore and overseas, the Kriston Group is able to successfully conceptualise and cater for events ranging from the intimate (10pax) to the mega-scale (10,000pax); from boutique to mass catering ; from buffet lines to action stations ; from basic food & beverage requirements to events requiring full suite of services.

Name/Company: Lim Yu-Beng
Country: Singapore
Featured in: Evolution

Yu-Beng won Best Actor in the 2005 Life! Theatre Awards for The Lover and The Dumb Waiter, Best Supporting Actor in 2004 for Bent, and was part of the Best Ensemble in 2002 for Animal Farm. In 2005 he was nominated for Best Actor in the Asian Television Awards for his role in Machine.On film, he has played leads in Singapore Dreaming (which won Best Screenplay at the San Sebastian Film Festival and Best Asian Film at the Tokyo International Film Festival), Kung Fu Killers (opposite the late David Carradine), and Solos (which won Best First Feature at the Torino GLFF). He also had supporting roles in The Lost Empire, Anna and the King, A.D. 2000 and Marco Polo. He starred on the small screen in 9 Lives, Do Not Disturb, The Second Singapore Short Story Project, the telemovie The New Home, and is still remembered by many from the series Triple 9, which ran five years. In 1994 he was awarded the prestigious British Council Fellowship for his work in local theatre.

Name/Company: Lionel Lai
Country: Singapore
Featured in: JING

Lionel Lai is a local photographer with extensive experience in his field. It has been more than eight years since he set up Acepix and his eclectic portfolio includes shooting celebrities like Hollywood actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, Grammy Award-winner John Legend, and Hong Kong star Aaron Kwok. His artistry behind the lens breathes life to every shot. While people remain his favourite subject, he also specialises in shooting food and fashion.

Name/Company: Nattapong Norchoovech
Country: Thailand
Featured in: JING

Chef Nattapong studied and trained in Dusit Thani Hotel in Bangkok in 2003 for eastern and western culinary program. He was a graduate of French Culinary Institute on the classic French cooking course and received Grand Diploma with distinction and Best of Class Award in 2004.Currently, he is the Executive Chef of Mango Tree Signature, a premium brand of the famous Mango Tree Thai Restaurants world wide. Chef Nattapong specialized in Modern and French Cuisines for Mango Tree Signature and his menus are strongly influenced by traditional Thai cuisines and ingredients but presented with a modern touch.

Name/Company: Nelson Chia
Country: Singapore
Featured in: Evolution

A bilingual theatre director / actor / writer, Nelson worked as a Resident Artist at The Theatre Practice, lectured and later headed the Theatre Department at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and performed with and directed for numerous theatre companies in Singapore as a freelance artist.Nelson is currently a lecturer with the Theatre Studies Programme at NUS, the Associate Artistic Director of Toy Factory Productions Ltd., an Associate Artist with The Substation where he has been creating solo works under the umbrella of the Performance Lab series. Nelson is a founding member of A Group Of People - a collaborative ensemble whose artistic philosophy is informed by the Suzuki Method of Actor Training and Anne Bogart’s Viewpoints. The ensemble believes in regular training for actors while its objectives centre on the continuous exploration of different actor training methodologies as well as the development of a unique ensemble approach to the creation of theatrical pieces.

Name/Company: Saksit Pisalasupongs
Country: Thailand
Featured in: Evolution

Saksit Pisalasupongs graduated with a M.A in Theatre Directing from Middlesex University, London, UK. He obtained a B.A in Personal Management, Public Administration Department and Political Science Faculty at Chulalongkorn University.Tube Gallery was a creation with him and his partner Phisit Jongnarangsin and is a Thai Fashion house that specializes in ‘New Age’ Design with an avangard touch. Inspired by traditional costumes, arts and cultures of different countries and races of the world, mixed with unusual patterns and selected materials, the brand has created a unique design of its own.

Name/Company: Sharmilah Begaum
Country: Singapore
Featured in: JING

Sharmilah Begum captures the heart of every one with her presence. An entrepreneur, a belly dancer, a make up artist, a body painter and an entertainer, she owns two companies and displays enthusiasm & stamina some slim ladies can never match up with. Big Is Gorgeous Pte Ltd empowers plus size women through fashion, self-love & fun exercises and is a manufacturing company that trains the needy group in Singapore to be tailors. These beneficiaries will then be given tailoring orders which they can complete from home.

Name/Company: Philip Tan
Country: Singapore
Featured in: Evolution

Philip defies pigeon-holing (classical symphony, percussion, fusion, ethnic, electronic, jazz), creating works that are aesthetically-adventurous and entertaining. He pushes the boundaries of ‘live music’ to new heights with his powerful on-stage antics that fuses theatre, drama, dance, performance-art and even sculpture (with his eco-friendly home-made ‘instruments’).The humble 35-year-old nurtures young minds as a full-time teacher-mentor, and volunteers his talents with the underprivileged. His collaborations with film and art-installation are also showcased internationally in film festivals and biennales. His passionate sense of discovery has won respect and admiration from various multidisciplinary productions that he has involved. In 2003, 2005 & 2009, Philip received the Life! Theatre’s Best Sound Award for his contribution to theatre music composition. He is awarded the Young Artist Award 2007 by the National Arts Council.

Name/Company: Phisit Jongnarangsin
Country: Thailand
Featured in: JING

Phisit Jongnarangsin graduated with a B.A in Western Classical Dance, Fine and Apply Arts Faculty in Chulalongkorn University.Tube Gallery was a creation with him and his partner Saksit Pisalasupongs and is a Thai Fashion house that specializes in ‘New Age’ Design with an avant gardetouch. Inspired by traditional costumes, arts and cultures of different countries and races of the world, mixed with unusual patterns and selected materials, the brand has created a unique design of its own.

Name/Company: Remesh Panicker
Country: Singapore
Featured in: Evolution

After nearly 30 years of acting experience, Remesh K Panicker has many critically acclaimed productions to his credit. He was the first Associate Artistic Director of the Singapore Repertory Theatre, one of the world’s most foremost professional English-language Asian Theatre companies. With a strong background in broadcasting and advertising (as an award-winning copywriter), he is currently an award-winning writer/creative consultant & executive producer, working with several regional media and production companies.Remesh is the region’s most sought after professional narrators and has voiced regional and international award winning documentaries and TV programs for National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel and clients in Austria, India, China and the UK, including the History of Singapore Trilogy. He was most recently the Show Announcer for National Day Parade 2009.

Name/Company: Shi Wei Dong
Country: China
Featured in: JING

Mr. Shi began his career since 1986, with his mentor Mr. Liu Guo Zhu who is the Master Chef of Sichuan Cuisine in China. Since 1989 to 2004 he served as the Executive Chef in Grand Hotel Beijing, one of the first 5 stars hotels in China. During his service, he spent two years working in Israel. As a result of his outstanding performance, he has been awarded the Best Executive Chef in 2006 by China Hotel Association, specialising in Sichuan Cuisine and Modern Chinese Aristocrat Cuisine. With 25 years of culinary experience, Chef Shi’s most prided event as a Chef was when he had the opportunity to serve the Israeli President his special Peking Duck creation. Chef Shi was awarded ‘The Golden Chef’ title in 2006 for his signature Peking Duck dish.

Name/Company: Sphere Exhibits Pte Ltd
Country: Singapore
Featured in: Partner

Incorporated in April 2008 and wholly owned by Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), Sphere Exhibits, which stands for “SPH Events, Roadshows and Exhibitions”, aims to be the leading lifestyle event company behind exciting and innovative fairs, shows, events and exhibitions for mid to high-end consumers.Backed by a committed and experienced team of professionals and SPH’s comprehensive range of advertising platforms, these events with unique concepts will not only draw local audiences but also regional participants. Sphere Exhibits is committed to building memorable and quality events which will be founded on research, planning, an established network of resources, and a wild but solid imagination.

Name/Company: Timothy Nga
Country: Singapore
Featured in: Evolution

Timothy Nga is multi-faceted, yet familiar face on local television, having been a presenter of business program Public Insight, and co-host on the lifestyle program Urban Escape (both on Mediacorp Ch5), and World Cup Prime Time (Starhub Cable TV), the daily pre-match show of the 2006 World Cup.As a television actor, he’s played major roles in a number of English dramas; Commander KT Szeto in the action series, Lifeline (Mediacorp Ch 5), Ralph Ang, a successful lawyer trapped in a dog-eat-dog world in Bertha’s Nest (Channel News Asia), and a perfect-gentleman doctor with a very dark side in the current 60s-based adventure series, Fighting Spiders (Mediacorp Ch 5). On the Mandarin side, he’s appeared in supporting roles in dramas such as Ying Cha Yang Chuo and You Fu (both on Mediacorp Ch8). Tim’s film credits include the short film Wei?, which made its mark in over eleven major film festivals around the world, and High Cost of Living, which won Best Feature Film at the 9th Panorama of Independent Film and Video in Greece.

Name/Company: Tan Kheng Hua
Country: Singapore
Featured in: Evolution

Kheng Hua is a well-known award-winning theatre/television actress/producer in Singapore. She has appeared in more than fifty local theatre productions, including leads in landmark plays such as Beauty World, Lao Jiu, Descendants of the Admiral Eunuch and Animal Farm. She produced the critically-acclaimed Dim Sum Dollies® shows (2004/5/6).She has also fronted high profile TV dramas such as War Diary, The Singapore Short Story Project, Sayang Sayang and Beautiful Connection, all of which earned her acting award nominations. On Arts Central, she created and produced the dramas 9 Lives and Do Not Disturb, the latter being the first local TV series to receive the maximum 5-star rating from Straits Times Life. She recently starred in Glen Goei’s new movie, The Blue Mansion and produced her first original stage musical It’s My Life! by Spare Room Pte Ltd. In December 2008, she made her directorial debut with Do Not Disturb - Late Checkout, Please in collaboration with Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay.

Name/Company: Treasureway Group
Country: China
Featured in: JING

Treasureway Group, a renowned company with numerous major projects in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, has been in China for 10 years.Treasureway Media, one of its subsidiaries, is involved in publications, advertising, organizing large scale events, and movie productions. The company’s joint venture movie with the China Environment Ministry, Happiness Knocks, has recently participated in the 12th International Film Festival in Shanghai. Being the only movie depicting China rural community, it is the first Chinese ‘environmental friendly’ movie. The movie was shown as a preview in The Arts House during the 2008 Asia on the Edge. Treasureway is also involved in the fashion designing industry, notably, the designing of Qi Pao, an exquisite traditional Chinese dress.Other than the cultural and media involvements, it’s core businesses also includes Mechanical and Electrical (M&E) with a focus on Intelligent or Smart Building that emphasizes on energy and environment conservation.

Name/Company: Vijaya Pawade
Country: Singapore
Featured in: Evolution

Vijaya hosts the evening drive time (6pm to 10pm) on weekdays. She is popular with her listeners – with listenership to her timebelt being the most well received on air. In addition to her role as DJ, Vijaya is also the station’s Music Director and host of the popular Top 10 Countdown show on Oli. She has hosted many stage shows and has also appeared in popular TV programmes on Vasantham Central, in which she is currently acting in a Vasantham drama.

Name/Company: Yu Mei Sheng
Country: China
Featured in: JING

Chef Yu strongly believes in creating great tasting dishes that are also great for one’s health. He practices culinary creativity by replacing the conventional taste options with less conventional, more organic and equally tasteful ingredients. Chef Yu was the proud Gold Medal recipient of the Alaska Seafood Competition in 2006 and in the Heinz Sport Creative Concept Competition in 2008. He also received the top award in the New Orleans Culinary Competition in 2008. Today, Chef Yu continues creating healthy great tasting dishes at the Phoenix Tree Restaurant in Beijing as the Executive Chef.

Name/Company: Zhang Lu
Country: China
Featured in: JING

Other than being the president of Treasureway Group, Zhang Lu is also a movie investor, scriptwriter and author of Heart Strings, which ranked first in Shanghai book sale list, and top 3 in China book fair in May 2009.