Rewarding artistic talent
ART and design school The One Academy of Communication Design (TOA) feted winners of its annual nationwide art competition at the Malaysia Top 10 Outstanding Young Artists Awards 2018 ceremony in Bandar Sunway recently.
The 21st edition of the competition, a collaboration with Pixar Animation Studios in conjunction with its school holiday release Incredibles 2, saw secondary school students nationwide submitting their design of a baby superhero suit online.
Out of these, selected contestants were chosen to attend on-the-spot competitions to produce artwork, themed “Save the World”, held in Johor Baru and Batu Pahat, Johor; Kota Baru, Kelantan; Sibu, Kuching and Miri, Sarawak; George Town, Penang; Tawau and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah; Ipoh, Perak; and Bandar Sunway, Selangor.
Encouraged to develop their unique ideas and plan their visual storytelling content, the participants were given the chance to freely express themselves in any type of manual-drawing medium.
The Gold award comprising RM80,000 worth of scholarship and prize money of RM20,000 was won by Lee Ling Feng from Penang. The Silver award went to Johorian Yap Jia Le, while the Bronze award went to Ng Yan Lei from Kuala Lumpur. The top three winners walked away with a total of RM180,000 worth of scholarships from TOA.
Seven other winners each received RM25,000 worth of scholarship, RM1,000 prize money and certificates of excellence.
Besides the prize-giving ceremony, those present had the opportunity to explore TOA’s Digital Art and Creative Design Expo - a public exhibit displaying masterpieces from the creative industry and works of graduates.
Participants were also given a taste of the future as they were shown the multitude of career possibilities that the creative industry had to offer.
Guest of honour Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Hannah Yeoh highlighted the importance of creative education in her speech.
“We are now in the era of creative economy, which sees the rise of various sectors, such as interactive media, social media, computer and mobile games, 3D animation, film visual effects and more.
“It can be said that the creative industry has transcended other giant industries. As such, there is a need for creative educators to keep up and meet the demands of this fast-growing industry by producing talent.”
TOA gave out Distinguished Art Educator Awards to teachers who helped nurture the Top 10 winners. The art teacher of the Gold winner, Cheng Yeow Chye, was given RM1,000 as a token of her efforts.
The Art Educator Lifetime Achievement Award went to Koh Ping Yap, from Kluang Chong Hwa High School, who has been teaching art for the past 29 years. Leong Hoy Yoke, TOA Penang managing director, was also given the award as a token of appreciation for his hard work and contribution to the art industry for the past 20 years.
Ten inspiring TOA graduates, who are making their mark in the industry, were awarded Malaysia Top 10 Creative Youth Awards.
They included Dayang Nur Afizah Rahim, the co-founder and designer of Machineast Pte Ltd, Singapore; Theo Loi Fui Teng, senior designer at DS Space Design Studio, Shanghai; Kevin Lai Han Wen, production manager at Lemon Sky, Selangor; and Phang Jin Jo, environmental technical director at MPC Films, Montreal, Canada.
To date, the Malaysia Top 10 Outstanding Young Artists Awards has given out more than RM16.2 million worth of scholarships to deserving individuals all over Malaysia.
This art competition brings out the best and most talented young artists and nurtures them to be successful.