The competition provides young budding artists an opportunity to demonstrate their skills in various artistic categories to capture aspects of heritage in Malaysia. The event was graced by YB Dato’ Kee Phaik Cheen, Penang State Executive Councillor for Tourism, Culture, The Arts and Women’s Development, who also presented the prizes to the winners.

The competition was sponsored and organised by Tanjong plc with the theme ‘Heritage’. The artworks covered a wide range of subjects, including heritage structures, old trades, streets of yesteryear, scenes of the past, historical activities, natural heritage and cultural activities.

Encik Tan Kong Han, Group Chief Operating Officer of Tanjong plc said, “We are very pleased that this project, now in its third consecutive year, has continued to receive overwhelming response from the students. We are encouraged by the support from the State and participating colleges as it is Tanjong’s objective to further promote the appreciation of our nation’s heritage."

“Another aim of this project is to identify and introduce young talented artists and we hope that this competition would provide a stepping stone for them towards recognition of their artistic skills,” he concluded.

In this year’s Tanjong Heritage Art Competition for Penang, some 260 entries were received from Pusat Pengajian Seni Universiti Sains Malaysia, Equator Academy of Art, Art Technoloy Education Centre and Conservatory of Fine Arts. The entries were for five categories, namely, water colour, oil/acrylic, charcoal/pencil/ink, etching/dry point and mix media.

In the water colour category, Mohd Rahidi b Mat Sarim from Universiti Sains Malaysia emerged as first prize winner while Loo Wan Sing from Equator Academy Of Art bagged the first prize in the charcoal/pencil/ink category.

There were two first prize winners for the oil/acrylic category, awarded to both Loh Jin Liang from Art Technoloy Education Centre and Paul Bunsu b Gitang of Universiti Sains Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Mooi Fei Yin and Mazali b Mahali, both from Pusat Pengajian Seni, Universiti Sains Malaysia, clinched top spot for the etching/dry point category and mix media category respectively.

The panel of judges comprises well-respected personalities with varied background ranging from heritage works to education in art and archaeology. The panel included Mr Laurence Loh as Chief Judge, Encik Mat Desa bin Mat Rodzi, Associate Professor Dr Kim Phaik Lah, Encik Zolkurnian bin Hassan and Mr Ng Eng Tong.

The Tanjong Heritage Art Competition 2003 runs in Penang as well as in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. On an annual basis, Tanjong and its subsidiaries actively support various causes in the areas of education, social welfare, public health, arts and sports development through a wide range of programmes and activities carried out in the country.

Date Posted : 30 Oct 2003
Source : Penang