TN man in S’pore wins 1st prize for Silambam act with migrant workers
An Indian man in Singapore has won the top prize in a government-initiated competition for migrant workers for choreographing and performing a sequence of Silambam - a traditional martial art form practised in India since the 4th century BC.
Ganesan Sandhirakasan, 33, who hails from Tamil Nadu, secured the first place with the most number of likes and views for his video on the @ sg4mw (SG 4 Migrant
Workers) TikTok account, beating 19 other shortlisted individuals. He took home the prize money of SGD 1,000 (USD 743). The series was made for migrant workers in Singapore and the final episode was aired on Monday night.
The competition is part of the Tamil variety series Chill Pannu Maappi! commissioned by the Ministry of Communication and Information and produced by Cosmic Ultima Pictures for migrant workers.
Ganeansan started practising martial arts at the age of 12 and won a silver medal for India at the first Silambam World Championship in 2010.
“(I decided to take part) after seeing the advertisement (for the competition) on the website. My workplace was closed during the COVID period,” he said of the first talent competition held in Singapore.“I wanted to use the time on something. Therefore, I choreographed (a demonstration of) the Indian martial art Silambam,” Ganesan said.