New award for artists with disabilities set up
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Madam Moy Saw Han, who has lost most of her vision to glaucoma, is in the running for an award for her painting Autumn Beauty.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
SINGAPORE – Madam Moy Saw Han, 50, was a lawyer until she discovered after a fall in 2018 that she had glaucoma, leading to total blindness in her right eye and reduced vision in her left.
Her condition – where high pressure in the eyeball damages the optic nerve – was diagnosed after visits to the hospital following her fall. Madam Moy, however, refused to dwell on her circumstances and, in 2023, even discovered a talent for painting.
One of her paintings – a landscape vista of a field of sunflowers called Autumn Beauty – is now in the running for a new set of awards for artists with disabilities.
Known as the Neo Kah Kiat Arts Award, the new set of prizes were announced at the launch of inclusive art festival Shaping Hearts on Oct 19 by Mayor of North East District Desmond Choo.
President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his spouse, Ms Jane Ittogi, were guests of honour at the event held at Our Tampines Hub, which was also attended by Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli and other MPs from the district.
The new awards will be funded by caterer Neo Group with a $1 million commitment over five years.
Half of the donation will go to the awards, while the rest will go to funding the annual event.
The award is named after the caterer’s founder, Mr Neo Kah Kiat, and will include several categories like Painting of the Year and Popular Painting.
This year’s festival – its sixth edition – will see some 500 artworks by more than 200 local and international artists with disabilities, including Madam Moy’s, some of which will be on display at Our Tampines Hub from Oct 19 to Nov 3.
All of them will be considered for the inaugural awards and the winners will be announced in November. They are also on sale to the public.
President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his wife, Ms Jane Ittogi (right), with Madam Moy Saw Han (left) at Our Tampines Hub on Oct 19.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
Speaking to reporters before the start of the launch event, Mr Choo, who is also an MP for Tampines GRC, said that the awards are intended to give artists with disabilities the same recognition that they would receive in any other art exhibition.
He said: “(Singaporeans need to) recognise the immense talent within the community... Every visit to the exhibition, every purchase of the merchandise or a piece of artwork is a recognition of the excellence and the journey they have taken.”
This year is also the first time that Shaping Hearts, which was first organised in 2019, is going international. It will showcase work by artists from 10 other cities including Hanoi in Vietnam and Amman in Jordan.
Mr Choo said: “Art truly has no boundaries, there are no language barriers... A lot of our artists are non-verbal and they use art as a way to express themselves.”
Madam Moy’s art, too, is an expression of her outlook on life and her disability.
She said: “I mostly paint landscapes and nature. I think it shows that every day is a new day – the sun, the sky, the weather will be different, and the sun brings life and hope.
“When anybody feels down, they should always think that every day is a new day and a new beginning.”
