April 3, 2025
SINGAPORE – A rangoli artist, a Chinese tea master and a Malay drum maker were among five people or businesses given awards on April 2 for promoting and passing on their skills and traditions in intangible cultural heritage to the community and younger generation.
The five recipients of the National Heritage Board’s (NHB) Stewards of Intangible Cultural Heritage Award received certificates from Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong at the National Gallery Singapore.
Each received a $5,000 cash award and is eligible for a project grant of up to $20,000.
They will also have the opportunity to display and promote their intangible cultural heritage at NHB festivals and programmes.
The five recipients are rangoli artist Vijayalakshmi Mohan, Malay drum maker Mohamed Yaziz Mohamed Hassan, Peranakan-style jeweller Thomis Kwan, Chinese tea shop Pek Sin Choon and Teochew pastry shop Thye Moh Chan.
They are the fifth cohort of practitioners or organisations to receive the award, which was launched in 2019, taking the number of people or organisations recognised to 22.
‘Anyone can learn rangoli’
Every morning at 6.30am, Madam Vijayalakshmi draws an intricate rangoli pattern with rice powder outside her door.
Rangoli is a 5,000-year-old form of Indian folk floor art comprising ornamental designs with symmetrical and geometrical shapes.
Traditionally, it is drawn on the floor with coloured rice powder or marble powder and lasts only a day or two.
Madam Vijayalakshmi, 66, picked up the art form when she was five and later became a rangoli practitioner.
Growing up in Trichy in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, she learnt the art form from her mother, who would draw rangoli every morning on their doorstep.
“In South India, we do a white-coloured design called ‘kolam’, and we do patterns based on mathematical principles and geometrical designs,” she said.
Madam Vijayalakshmi moved to Singapore in 1992 and became a citizen in 2005.
In 1993, she took part in her first rangoli competition in Singapore, and drew the Hindu god Ganesha using coloured rice powder.
“It was my first time participating and I didn’t know it would be so windy. Before the judges came, my design flew off and I was disqualified,” she recalled with a laugh.
She later went on to conduct rangoli workshops at schools and universities, and co-founded her company Singa Rangoli with her husband N. Mohan in 2015.
Her company makes rangoli in traditional designs using contemporary materials such as CDs, coloured straws and pistachio shells, to show that anyone can pick up the art form.
The company also takes on rangoli commissions and runs workshops on rangoli making.
“I feel that the recognition that comes with this award can tell the youth that they, too, can be involved and try to learn the art,” Madam Vijayalakshmi said.
Shop that promotes Singapore’s tea culture
Mr Kenry Peh drinks more than 100 cups of tea a day, sampling the tea he blends in his shop in Chinatown, and at various bak kut teh eateries.
He is the fourth-generation owner and tea master of Chinese tea shop Pek Sin Choon, a family-run business that his great-grandfather founded in 1925.
“To us, tea is not just about the flavour or fragrance; it is more than a beverage. It is about people coming together and… interacting with each other over a cup of tea,” the 55-year-old said.
His shop stocks more than 100 different varieties of tea, including “da hong pao”, “tie guan yin” and aged “pu erh”. Most of the tea comes from China, while the rest is from Taiwan and Indonesia.
Mr Peh pointed out that he supplies Nanyang tea, a unique blend of tea that is roasted here, to 80 per cent of bak kut teh establishments in Singapore.
Pek Sin Choon also conducts tea education and appreciation workshops.
Mr Peh started helping out at the tea shop when he was in pre-school, putting pre-packed tea leaves into metal tins. When he was in secondary school, he learnt how to weigh and pack the tea leaves late into the night after the shop had closed.
“You couldn’t jam up the production line in the middle of the day, so we would have to wait for all the staff to go home before we could (learn to) wrap (the tea),” he said.
Mr Peh took over the tea shop from his father when he was 29 in 1999.
Grateful for the recognition, Mr Peh said he would continue to promote tea culture, so that Singapore’s tea story “can be better shared with the rest of the world”.
He wants to make Malay drums ‘cool’
The handheld “kompang” drum seen at Malay weddings and other functions is usually played by someone in a seated or standing position, but in performances organised by Nadi Singapura, kompang players and other musicians move rhythmically and sing.
Nadi Singapura’s co-founder, Mr Mohamed Yaziz Mohamed Hassan, 50, said this is his way of making Malay drums like the kompang more interesting and attractive to younger people.
“Many drummers in Singapore are Malay, (but) they do not want to hold a Malay drum because they think it is not cool,” he said.
The Nadi Singapura ensemble, which started in 2011, took an innovative approach in the use of common Malay drums, including the “rebana” and kompang.
Besides teaching his students how to play these drums, Mr Yaziz also has been teaching them to make and repair these traditional instruments.
As a child, Mr Yaziz enjoyed listening to Malay drums being played at Malay weddings. It led him to pick up the kompang when he was 10. At 13, he joined a “dikir barat” (Malay choral singing) group and played the rebana.
He learnt how to repair drums by going to Malay traditional festivals and seeking advice from experienced drummers at these events. He would make notes and try out the techniques back home on his instruments.
Over the years, he has improvised and innovated by using non-traditional materials to make drums. This includes adding tuning lugs to drums, making it easier for players to tune their instruments to the rest of the ensemble.
To share his skills and knowledge in maintaining these instruments, Mr Yaziz organises workshops and training sessions for schools and the public.
“This award is not only for me, but also for the Malay traditional drummers and for the future generations who want to be a part of this scene,” he said.