Young artists win RM600,000 in awards
THE search for winners for Malaysia Top 10 Outstanding Young Artists Awards runs annually in collaboration with Pixar Animation Studios has recently concluded.
Among winners who sweeped the lucrative RM600,000 reward in cash and prizes are Penangite Khoo Yan Huai who won the Gold and RM20,000 cash prize, Teo Ee San of Selangor who won the Silver and Kua Wei Lun from Johor, the Bronze.
The Top 3 victors alone won a total of RM180,000 worth of The One Academy scholarships, RM1,000 cash prize each were awarded to the Top Ten winners plus movie premiums.
Since May, thousands of qualifying entries were submitted by ambitious, talented secondary school students. Those selected took part in the ‘On-the-Spot’ state competitions held in Kota Bharu, Kelantan; Batu Pahat and Johor Bahru, Johor; Miri, Sibu and Kuching, Sarawak; Georgetown, Penang; Kota Kinabalu, Sabah; and Bandar Sunway, Selangor.
The awards was held in conjunction with Pixar’s school holiday release of ‘Cars 3’.
Finalists and their parents who attended the awards ceremony explored The One Academy’s Digital Art and Creative Design Expo, a public exhibit displaying a variety of impressive masterpieces from the diverse creative industry and works of graduates. The expo presents potential careers in the industry considerable as options for young talents.
With 2017 being marked as Malaysia Top 10 Outstanding Young Artists Awards’ 20th anniversary, rewards have escalated for winners and their art teachers. On top of the additional cash prizes for its winners, two new art teachers awards were introduced. Malaysia Distinguished Art Educator Awards honoured all art teachers of the top 10 winners while Malaysia Art Educator Lifetime Achievement Award recognised Tan Chiang Kiong, Art Faculty Dean of Chung Ling Private High School, Penang and Loh Kin Sun, International Illustrator for DC Comics & Jonesky Ltd. who dedicated their life to providing quality creative education. Recipient of Malaysia Distinguished Art Educator Awards and art teacher of Gold Winner Khoo received RM1,000 cash prize.
“Youths should give jobs in the creative industry a try. Students must be open-minded about a career in the sector, which is one of the key drivers in economic growth and has great potential to expand further. There are no boundaries when it comes to job opportunities in the creative field. The world is your oyster as you can survive anywhere as long as you have the creative skills,” said Datuk Senator Chong Sin Woon, Deputy Minister of Education, after officiating the Malaysia Top 10 Outstanding Young Artists Awards 2017 ceremony.
In the same award ceremony, 10 successful individuals who have made Malaysia proud and strived in the creative industry globally and locally were awarded Malaysia Top 10 Creative Youth
Awards 2017. Among the recipients of the awards are Rezaliando, co-founder and designer of Machineast Pte Ltd, Singapore; Goh Chee Seng, director/ cofounder of Illusionist Animation Studio, Malaysia; Ken Foong Ka King, director/ chief creative officer of LemonSky Studio, Malaysia; Edmund Ooi Teng Keong, design director of Vault Design Lab Sdn Bhd, Malaysia; Ryan Kuek Yang Xuan, director of RK Interior Studio, Malaysia; Tan Wei Peow, film director of Directors Think Thanks, Malaysia; and Stanley Goh Say Yung, founder and managing director of Top Art & Creative Studio, Malaysia. To date, at least 150 individuals have received this award including concept artists, entrepreneurs, digital animators, fine artists and even illustrators.
One of this year’s award recipients — Goh Chee Seng — was a winner of the Malaysia Top 10 Outstanding Young Artists Awards (formerly known as The New Media Award) annual art competition back in 2001 and Goh is a testimony of how winning the award can change one’s life.
“Since the art competition was first established in 1998, we have received over 15,000 participants and discovered more than fifty extraordinary talents. We have also given away The One Academy scholarships with a total worth of RM15.6 million. In other words, for the past two decades, we have helped discover and nurture young talented artists through Malaysia Top 10 Outstanding Young Artists Awards,” said The One Academy founder and principal Tatsun Hoi.