Rangoli artist, Malay drum maker among stewards of intangible cultural heritage winners (STRAIT TIMES 2 April 2025)
SINGAPORE – A rangoli artist, a Chinese tea master and a Malay drum maker were among five people or businesses given awards on April 2 for promoting and passing on their skills and traditions in intangible cultural heritage to the community and younger generation.
The five recipients of the National Heritage Board’s (NHB) Stewards of Intangible Cultural Heritage Award received certificates from Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong at the National Gallery Singapore.
Each received a $5,000 cash award and is eligible for a project grant of up to $20,000.
They will also have the opportunity to display and promote their intangible cultural heritage at NHB festivals and programmes.
The five recipients are rangoli artist Vijayalakshmi Mohan, Malay drum maker Mohamed Yaziz Mohamed Hassan, Peranakan-style jeweller Thomis Kwan, Chinese tea shop Pek Sin Choon and Teochew pastry shop Thye Moh Chan.
They are the fifth cohort of practitioners or organisations to receive the award, which was launched in 2019, taking the number of people or organisations recognised to 22.
‘Anyone can learn rangoli’
Every morning at 6.30am, Madam Vijayalakshmi draws an intricate rangoli pattern with rice powder outside her door.
Rangoli is a 5,000-year-old form of Indian folk floor art comprising ornamental designs with symmetrical and geometrical shapes.
Traditionally, it is drawn on the floor with coloured rice powder or marble powder and lasts only a day or two.
Madam Vijayalakshmi, 66, picked up the art form when she was five and later became a rangoli practitioner.
Growing up in Trichy in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, she learnt the art form from her mother, who would draw rangoli every morning on their doorstep.
“In South India, we do a white-coloured design called ‘kolam’, and we do patterns based on mathematical principles and geometrical designs,” she said.
Madam Vijayalakshmi moved to Singapore in 1992 and became a citizen in 2005.
In 1993, she took part in her first rangoli competition in Singapore, and drew the Hindu god Ganesha using coloured rice powder.
“It was my first time participating and I didn’t know it would be so windy. Before the judges came, my design flew off and I was disqualified,” she recalled with a laugh.
Growing up in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, rangoli artist Vijayalakshmi Mohan learnt the art form from her mother, who would draw rangoli every morning.
She later went on to conduct rangoli workshops at schools and universities, and co-founded her company Singa Rangoli with her husband N. Mohan in 2015.
Her company makes rangoli in traditional designs using contemporary materials such as CDs, coloured straws and pistachio shells, to show that anyone can pick up the art form.
The company also takes on rangoli commissions and runs workshops on rangoli making.
“I feel that the recognition that comes with this award can tell the youth that they, too, can be involved and try to learn the art,” Madam Vijayalakshmi said.
Rangoli is a 5,000-year-old form of Indian folk floor art. Madam Mohan first picked up the art form when she was five.
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