Indonesian artist Antonius Subiyanto emerged the biggest winner in this year's United Overseas Bank (UOB) Painting of the Year award, Singapore's richest painting prize.

His acrylic painting Old Stock Fresh Menu, showing consumer products set ablaze in a large wok, bagged the UOB South-east Asian Painting of the Year Award, worth US$10,000.

It also won the UOB Painting of the Year Award (Indonesia), one of four country awards worth US$25,000 each. The other awards were for Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

At the awards ceremony held on Thursday night, Om Mee Ai was adjudged the winner of the UOB Painting of the Year (Singapore) in the established artist category, for her oil-on-canvas painting of a starry night sky, N-PIN56L.

In the emerging artist category for Singapore, the Most Promising Artist of the Year Award went to 17-year-old student Lee Jia Zhen for her painting on school life titled Let's Have A Burger.

Winners from the four participating countries received their awards from Singapore's Minister for Education Heng Swee Keat. The ceremony was held at the Red Dot Design Museum at Maxwell Road.

The regional judging panel had representatives from each of the four participating countries and included Dr Bridget Tracy Tan, director of the Institute of Southeast Asian Arts and Art Galleries at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

In a statement, the panel said they picked Subiyanto's work to win the top prize as they were impressed with the artist's layering technique, as well as his "ability to convey a sombre message in a subtle yet playful way".