For his contributions to Malay arts over the past 50 years, Mr Almahdi Al-Haj Ibrahim,75, has won almost every award in Singapore, from the Cultural Medallion to the Anu-gerah Tun Seri Lanang.

With his latest award from the National Heritage Board and the project grant that comes with it, he hopes to help document and shed new light on the art he holds dear - bangsawan.

The director and playwright told The Straits Times: "I plan to use the money to write a book about the art form and interview some pioneer practitioners whom I looked up to but are now somewhat buried in time."

Bangsawan is an old art form rooted in Malay culture that combines elements of poetry, theatre, dance and song into operatic stage productions. Storylines range from those taken from folklore and tales about royalty to those involving modern subjects.

Productions often make use of traditional Malay poetic forms like the pantun - or rhyming quatrains.

Mr Almahdi fell in love with bangsawan when he was a child, watching various troupes performing it on the streets of Singapore.

Productions were much simpler then, he said, often staged with just a green cloth behind performers to set the scene in a jungle or a palace.

To him, the art form is a wellspring of Malay cultural knowledge and customs: "Bangsawan preserves and communicates a lot of values and customs like respect for elders and others, which I do not think are lost but certainly are important for the young to know more about."

Mr Almahdi, whose stage name is Nadiputra, continues to be involved in large-scale productions.

In 2016, he directed a production of Raden Mas, which follows royal intrigue in the East Javanese kingdom of Kediri, at the Esplanade.

He said bangsawan can continue to be relevant and enjoyed in Singapore if enough investment is made into its production.

"Bangsawan is complicated and expensive to make. There is a lot to handle logistically and artistically, but when done well, it is grand and entertaining. All this will be lost if we allow it to disappear."

He hopes more young Malay theatre practitioners can consider putting together a bangsawan production at least once a year.

He said: "While people say that bangsawan is a dying art, I hope we can take responsibility for it and try to get more youth to understand its importance and relationship to Malay culture and art."