LEADING LIGHTS
PRESTIGE HONOURS THE OUTSTANDING PERSONALITIES WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THEIR RESPECTIVE FIELDS.
PATRON AWARD, WEE WEI LING The philanthropist supports emerging artists and uplifts special needs communities through art.
In a move demonstrating free expression of the artists she supports, the recipient of Prestige Singapore’s Patron Award Wee Wei Ling hangs five paintings of nude women by South Korean artist Geumran Choi not in her bedroom, but in the living area. Wei Ling, the executive director of Sustainable Partnerships, Lifestyle and Asset at Pan Pacific Hotels Group Limited, says: “Now, they are out where they can be admired.”
Offering artists a platform for their work resonates deeply with Wei Ling. Under her stewardship, the Pan Pacific Hotels Group has curated a collection that includes works by Chua Ek Kay and Dr Iskandar Jalil as well as commissioned pieces by ART: DIS, which supports artists with disabilities. These artworks are prominently displayed in its various properties for guests to enjoy.
“An artwork captures an artist’s heart and soul and is nurtured just like a baby. This is why we have a policy of investing in local artists as well as up and coming and special needs artists,” says Wei Ling.
The group also works closely with the National Arts Council and National Gallery Singapore – past partnerships include Singapore Art Week 2022 and National Gallery’s upcoming gallery benefit event.
For her personal collection, Wei Ling prefers to seek out acquisitions from the
Affordable Art Fair and from lesser known artists on her travels – Hanoi is a particular favourite – as a way to directly support budding talent.
Also a strong supporter of the performing arts, she sits on the board of the Ding Yi Orchestra. She co- founded Extraordinary People in 2018 to support special needs individuals through various initiatives, including art, music and performance lessons.
Wei Ling says: “Extraordinary People seeks to nurture deeper appreciation for the arts, encompassing various forms like dance, music and singing, all the while gearing persons with special needs to a possible career in their preferred art form so they can have a chance to live independently.”
VANGUARD AWARD, ZHOU LIHAN
Mirxes’s chief executive blazes a path in early cancer detection technology.
Co- founder and CEO of Mirxes Dr Zhou Lihan steered the biotechnology company from a start- up in 2014 to a global competitor in early cancer detection technology. Today, Mirxes has laboratories and manufacturing facilities in China, Japan, the US and Singapore and over 400 staff.
The company was built on the premise that early detection saves lives. Two- thirds of cancers are diagnosed late in Singapore and other Asia- Pacific countries.
“By catching cancers in the early stages, we aim to significantly enhance the prospects of successful early intervention and cure, ultimately saving lives and transforming the landscape of cancer diagnosis. We are creating a world where cancer is no longer a death sentence,” says Lihan, a PHD in biochemistry and molecular biology and has published more than 22 representative papers.
Mirxes achieved a world first with its flagship product, GASTROCLEAR, a molecular blood test for early detection of gastric cancer. It was recently granted Breakthrough Device Designation by the US Food and Drug Administration ( FDA). This is the first time that a blood MIRNA test, an in vitro diagnostic ( IVD) test for early detection of gastric cancer, has received the title. The FDA designation is only granted to certain medical devices that address unmet needs and provide more effective treatment or diagnosis of life- threatening or irreversibly debilitating diseases or conditions such as cancer.
Last July, Mirxes launched Project CADENCE in collaboration with clinicianscientists from Singapore’s institutes of higher learning and public healthcare institutions. It is the world’s first large- scale clinical research project for the development of a multi- cancer early detection test for up to nine highincidence and high- mortality cancers.
“Through accessible, affordable, and minimally invasive screening solutions, we hope to inspire more individuals to undergo regular cancer screenings,” says Lihan. Having gone from strength to strength, he now eyes the ultimate achievement for start- ups – taking the company public.
TASTEMAKER AWARD, GRACE YEH Society luminary exemplifies beauty inside and out.
The English Romantic poet John Keats was passionate about beauty, equating it to truth and the sublime. The same can be said about style maven Grace Yeh, who lives for beauty and its associate virtues of dignity and harmony.
In her youth, Grace’s innate sense of style led her to scrimp and save so she could buy materials to make her own clothes. She didn’t become a fashion designer, eventually founding her family business Yeh Brothers Wood Works and Yeh Brothers Electronic Works, but she would seek beauty like a butterfly to nectar throughout her life. Even now, she keeps a pair of Bally heels she no longer wears and proudly shows guests her Royal Albert Country Rose china set, the pieces of which she painstakingly collected over the years because, in her gleeful words: “Isn’t it so beautiful?”
“Once I enter a shop, I know what’s good for me,” says Grace, who professes not to follow fashion trends and is not above altering a designer piece to her satisfaction. To be sure, her keen fashion sense and charitable work for organisations such as Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Yellow Ribbon Project have made her a regular headliner in society magazines.
True to her personal style compass, Grace attends the Prestige ball in a stunning yellow Oscar de la Renta gown with an accompanying shrug ( to compensate for the too- low bodice) and sleeves she had tailored from couturier Frederick Lee, her hair teased into a cloud that adds drama to the elegant outfit. After all, the theme of the gala is cinematic and what better way to dazzle than to add a splash of the X- factor?
In her acceptance speech, Grace explains her interpretation of beauty. “I grew up in Taiwan with four sisters. My parents raised us with Chinese culture and unconditional love. We have always been taught that taste and beauty are from the inside out,” she says.
Then, with characteristic wit and grace, she adds: “My tastes are simple. I am happy with the best. Tonight, I would like to share this award with all the lovely ladies here – you are the best!”
SUSTAINABILITY AWARD, KATHLYN TAN Rumah Group director deep dives into ocean conservation.
Having witnessed as a scuba diver the damage that humans and climate change have wrought in the world’s ocean, Kathlyn Tan became an indefatigable advocate for marine conservation. “The ocean is critical for human life and yet, out of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, the ocean remains the least funded of all of them,” says Kathlyn. The fact is, the earth’s waters produce at least 50 per cent of the planet’s oxygen, absorb 30 per cent its carbon emissions and capture 90 per cent of the excess heat trapped in the atmosphere.
As a director of her family enterprise, real estate firm Rumah Group, Kathlyn developed the company’s sustainability agenda. Rumah’s impact investment and philanthropy are channelled into projects that raise awareness of ocean conservation and protect and restore marine ecosystems. It also supports research into alternative proteins to replace seafood.
Understanding the power of media to shape opinion and galvanise action, Rumah bought a stake in sustainability media platform Eco- Business and through Coastal Natives, a public outreach organisation Kathlyn co- founded, it launched the podcast Seas Today on Spotify as well as an ode- toocean film festival Waves of Change at Artscience Museum.
The group will introduce two grants next year: One for filmmakers to produce ocean conservation stories from a South- east Asian perspective and the other to support indigenous organisations, people on the ground empowering their communities.
“This will add longevity to their conservation projects,” says Kathlyn.
She says in her acceptance speech: “You don’t have to be a scientist or in government to protect the ocean. In the last seven years working in marine conservation, I’ve got to meet so many impassioned people from all walks of life who have dedicated their lives to repairing the ocean. Whether driven by science, adventure, grief, or hope, what unites us is the urgency that the ocean desperately needs our support.”