Mr Tan
Siah Kwee (陈声桂)
Mr Tan Siah
Kwee was born in 1948 in Chao An, Guang Dong Province, China. He
emigrated to Singapore in 1955, and graduated from the Nanyang
University in 1972 with a Bachelor Degree in Literature. In 1973, Mr
Tan graduated from the Institute of Education (Singapore) with a
Diploma in Education by the University of Singapore. In 1995, he
graduated from the National Institute of Education, Nanyang
Technological University, with a Further Professional Diploma in
Education. Before his retirement, he had spent many years as a
Senior Education Officer 1 in the Ministry of Education, and was the
head of the Languages Department of the Tampines Junior College for
17 years. He won the National Inspiring Chinese Teacher Award in
2000.
As a pioneer and founding president
of the Chinese Calligraphy Society of Singapore, Mr Tan has been
actively involved in the management of the society for 37 years, 34
of which were in the position of President. In 1979, The Ministry of
Culture appointed him a member of the newly set up Visual Arts
Advisory Committee, a post that he held for 13 years until 1991.
When the roles of the committee were superseded by the newly
established National Arts Council in the same year, Mr Tan continued
to play a part as a member of the Council’s Arts Resource Panel, a
position that he still holds today. In 1974, was elected to the
management committee of the Singapore Arts Federation (formerly
known as the Singapore Arts Council before it was renamed in 1991),
and he remained part of the committee until 1977. From 1978 to 1993,
he was the Honorary Assistant Secretary of the Federation, and in
1994, he was elected the Vice-President of the Federation, a
position he still holds today. Mr Tan has also played an advisory
role to various cultural bodies such the Chinese Calligraphy Society
of Hong Kong, the Chinese Calligraphy Society of Malaysia, and the
Philippines Chinese Calligraphy Society. When the International
Congress of Chinese Calligraphy was established in 1988, he was
elected as its Executive Director, a position he still holds today.
Mr Tan has been the Dean of the Singapore Institute of Chinese
Calligraphy since its establishment in 1990, and the Artistic
Director and Head of the Executive Committee of the Singapore
Calligraphy Centre since its opening in 1995. He has also been the
president of the Singapore Senior Citizen Calligraphy University
since its launch in 2005.
Mr Tan is the first Chinese
Calligrapher to be sent overseas by the government to demonstrate
the Calligraphic Art. Since 1978, the Singapore Tourism Board
(formerly known as the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board), the
Ministry of Finance, and the Prime Minister’s Office have together
on 9 occasions sent him to the United States, Japan, Hong Kong, the
Philippines, the United Arab Emirates, England, and Switzerland to
demonstrate the art.
In recognition his contributions
towards promotion of the Arts, Mr Tan has received at least 20
awards and decorations from the government, civil societies and
organizations of Singapore and other countries. The more notable of
these include:
-
Being presented the “Singapore
Youth Excellence Award” (the highest accolade given by the
Singapore government to youth, formerly known as the “National
Youth Service Award”) by the Senior Minister of State in the
Prime Minister’s Office and Vice Chairman of the People’s
Association, Mr K.C. Lee at the Istana in 1978.
-
Being presented the “Long
Service Award” by the Minister for Community Development Mr Wong
Kan Seng (who was also in charge of cultural matters) in 1987.
-
Being presented with the Public
Service Medal (PBM) by the fourth president of the Singapore Mr
Wee Kim Wee in 1991.
-
Being presented with the
inaugural “Asean Achievement Award” (AAA) by Mr Hartarto,
Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Industry and Trade, on
behalf of Asean (an alliance of South East Asian Nations) in
1992.
-
Being presented the Long Service
Award (PBS), Education Service, by Mr Ong Teng Cheong, The
President of the Republic of Singapore, in 1999.
-
Being presented the Cultural
Medallion (the highest accolade given by the Singapore
government to artists) by the Minister
of Information and the Arts Mr Lee Sock Suan in 2000.
-
Being presented with the “Mont
Blanc de La Culture Award”, an international art award, by the
German ambassador to Singapore Mr Hasso Buchrucker in 2002.
-
Awarded the “10 Years Gold
Medal”, the “15 Years Gold Medal”, the “20 Years Honorary Gold
Medal”, the “25 Years Honorary Gold Medal”, the “30 Years
Meritorious Service Gold Medal”, and the “Life Long Achievement
Award” by the Chinese Calligraphy Society of Singapore.
-
Awarded the “20 Years Gold
Medal” by The Singapore Arts Federation.
-
Awarded the “15 Years Gold
Medal”, “20 Years Honorary Gold Medal”, “30 Years Meritorious
Service Gold Medal”, and the “35 Years Meritorious Service Gold
Medal” by the Singapore Cultural Studies Society.
Mr Tan’s works
have been selected for the “Singapore
150 Years Anniversary Art Exhibition” in 1969 (an exhibition
to commemorate the 150th year of the founding of
Singapore and the first national art exhibition) and many other art
and calligraphy exhibitions in Singapore and overseas. His works are
also collected by two thirds of the Cabinet Ministers in Singapore
(including two former presidents Mr Wee Kim Wee and Mr Ong Teng
Cheong, two former Prime Ministers Mr Lee Kuan Yew and Mr Goh Chok
Tong, the current Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong, deputy prime
minister Dr Tony Tan, Ministers Mr George
Yeo, Mr Lim Swee Say, Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam,
Mr Teo Chee Hean, Mr Lim Boon Heng etc.), the British Prime Minister
Mr Tony Blair and Minister for Education Mr Paton), Her Royal
Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand, as well as the
National Museum of Singapore and the Fukuoka Museum, Japan. He was
awarded the “Certificate of Excellence” by the Hong Kong Asia
Art Society in 1977, the first “Excellence in Calligraphy Award” by
the Ministry of Culture during the National Day Art Exhibition in
1978, the “Vigilante Corps Medal” (for outstanding achievements in
the art of calligraphy) by the Singapore Vigilante Corps in 1979,
and the “Honorable Mention” by the Societe Des Artistes Francais
(the Society of Artists of France) in 1987.
Mr Tan was a judge at the “National
Museum Annual Art Exhibition” in 1978, and also at the “National Day
Art Exhibition” organized by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry
of Community Development, the Ministry of Information and the Arts,
and the National Arts Council, in the years 1975, 1977, 1979-1985,
1987-1993. He was a member of the National Arts Council’s “1995
Singapore Art Exhibition”. He was also the Vice Chairman of the
Chinese Painting, Calligraphy, and Seal Carving Judging Panel, and a
judge at the “1997 Singapore Art Exhibition”. He was also a judge at
the “Singapore Nokia Art Exhibition”
(a bi-annual national art exhibition) in1999, 2001, and 2003.
In 1979, the National Museum of
Singapore organized Mr Tan’s first Solo exhibition at the Iskandar
Art Gallery. In 1987, the Chinese Calligraphy Society of Singapore
and the Singapore Cultural Studies Society organized the “Tan Siah
Kwee Calligraphy Exhibition” at the National Museum of Singapore,
and the published 4000 copies of “The Calligraphy of Tan Siah Kwee”.
For 11 years from 1974
(1974-1982/1985-1986), Mr Tan was a part-time lecturer of literature
and Chinese Calligraphy at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. From
1981, he was a lecturer of Chinese calligraphy in the National
University of Singapore’s Department of Extramural Studies for 10
years (1981-1990). From 1976 he was a lecturer in the special course
on “Simplified Chinese Character and Chinese Calligraphy” organized
by the Ministry of Education for Secondary School Chinese Teachers.
For 10 years from 1995 (1995-2004), Mr Tan was appointed a lecturer
of Chinese Calligraphy at the National Institute of Education/
Centre for the Chinese Language and Culture/Department of Chinese
Studies, Nanyang Technological University. From 1995 till today, he
has been a lecturer at the Singapore Calligraphy Centre.
In 1970, Mr Tan set up the “Chinese
Pen Calligraphy Research Centre” to promote Chinese calligraphy.
This centre was subsequently renamed to the “Singapore Chinese
Calligraphy Research Centre” in 1981.
9th
Dec 2006
