The Hai-O Arts & Culture Grants 2019

Hai-O Enterprise Berhad was established in 1975 by a group of compatriots cherishing national independence, socialism and human rights. From the day of its inception, it has donated to education, even though with limited start-up capital. Throughout the progress of Hai-O Enterprise Berhad , it has been donating to and sponsoring needy and impoverished individuals and groups.

Hai-O Enterprise Berhad has been practising CSR, fulfilling the Groups' social objectives of promoting multi-ethnic unity and harmony, advocating inter-ethnic interaction and understanding through activities, arts and sports. Hai-O Enterprise Berhad acknowledges the significance of arts in the advancement of society, and has continuously supported the Sasaran Art Festival, theatre, poetry recitals, dance and cultural performances, performing arts centres, as well as national literary laureates.

The Hai-O Arts and Culture Grants is created under the patronage of Hai-O Foundation, to encourage and support Malaysian arts and culture with the view to promote participation by all ethnicities in Malaysia, celebrating the rich diversity in Malaysian arts. Social justice, multi-ethnic unity and harmony form the spirit of the Hai-O Arts and Culture Grants.

Arts that bring together a wide range of contrasting spheres, through inter-disciplinary, multicultural and experimental approaches, articulating Malaysian identity are welcome.

The amount for the Hai-O Arts & Culture Grants is RM 50,000.00 (Ringgit fifty thousand), to commence in November 2019. The fund will give out:

RM 5,000.00 (Ringgit five thousand) for one Lifetime Achievement Award;
Grants ranging from RM 4,000 (Ringgit four thousand) to RM 10,000 (Ringgit ten thousand) for:
- Creating new work in music, dance, theatre, film and visual art
- Experimental productions
- Research and documentation
- Training
- Workshops
- Residencies

All arts practitioners in Malaysia are eligible to apply. Work sited in Malaysia will be given preference.

The selection panel for awarding the grants is a one-year appointment and shall comprise 5 renowned members from the arts industry.

Panel of Selection

YBHG Tan Sri Hajah Norliza Binti Rofli
Tan Sri Hajah Norliza Binti Rofli was appointed Director General for Culture and Arts in May 2005. She obtained her BA in Geography (Honours) from the University of Malaya and masters degree in arts management from Carnegie Melon University, Pittsburgh, USA. As the Director General, Tan Sri Hajah Norliza Binti Rofli has played a keyrole in developing Malaysia's performing arts scene through promotion conversation guidance and training, as well as the development of non-government organization and cultural infrastructure. Tan Sri Hajah Norliza Binti Rofli also plays an active role in the culture component of ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information (ASEAN-COCI), and has represented the department at a ministerial level through her attendance of the Meeting of ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Culture and Arts (AMCA) and the Asia Europe Ministers of Culture Meetings (ASEM). A member of International Federation of Arts Councils and Cultural Agencies (IFACCA), she has been appointed as Board of Directors which is responsible for governing the organization in keeping with its Constitution.
Bilqis Hijjas
Bilqis Hijjas writes about dance, produces, performs and teaches in Malaysia. Currently the President of MyDance Alliance, a membership organisation supporting dance in Malaysia, she has produced the popular Dancebox performance series, and was artistic director of MyDance Festival 2011 and 2013, and co-curator and producer of Tepak Tari in DiverseCity KL International Arts Festival in 2015. Bilqis lectures in dance criticism and performance theory at University of Malaya, and is editor of the Malaysian arts criticism platform Critics Republic.

Bilqis also directs the dance program at private arts centre Rimbun Dahan, which offers residencies for contemporary dance choreographers. Since 2006, she has produced numerous dance performances in theatres all over the Klang Valley, as well as the occasional Dancing in Place weekend of site-specific works at Rimbun Dahan and elsewhere. Bilqis is also the Southeast Asia vice president of World Dance Alliance Asia-Pacific, for which she edits the biannual magazine Asia Pacific Channels, and one of the core members of Asia Network for Dance. She also runs the annual Southeast Asia Choreolab for emerging contemporary dance choreographers from the region, which takes place at Rimbun Dahan mid-year, facilitated by international choreographers, since 2014.

ilqis holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Studies from Harvard University, and post-graduate degrees in anthropology, dance and arts politics from Victorian College of the Arts, Australian National University and New York University.
Sharmilla Ganesan

Sharmilla Ganesan is a presenter/producer with BFM 89.9, where she hosts Front Row, the radio station's arts show. She is also a writer and critic, with in-depth experience covering and commenting on Malaysian arts and culture. She was a features journalist with The Star for over a decade, where she wrote extensively on the arts, books, and film. Her articles have been published in, among others, The Atlantic, South China Morning Post, NewNaratif, and ArtsEquator. She was runner-up for the Malaysian Press Institute's award for Best Column 2016, for her literary column. Sharmilla also writes fiction, and has been published in several Malaysian and regional anthologies/literary journals. She was an Asia Journalism Fellow with the National University of Singapore in 2017, and a Fulbright/Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow with the University of Maryland in 2015/2016.
Yap Sau Bin

Sau Bin teaches at the Faculty of Creative Multimedia, Multimedia University and is a member of Rumah Air Panas [RAP], an artist initiative based in Kuala Lumpur. His art practice encompasses conceptual work, installation, performance, mapping and curation. Yap has also worked on the Narratives in Malaysian Art volumes published by Rogue Art. He has served on the jury panel for the 2013 Young Contemporary Arts Award by the National Art Gallery Malaysia; as a nominator for the Sovereign Asian Art Prize 2014 - 2016, Arts Maebashi Artist-In-Residency Programme 2016-2018 and the 2017 Hugo Boss Asia Art award.

Wong Jyh Shyong (JS)

2002 - 2005	Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance (First Class Honours), The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Hong Kong
2005 - 2009	Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, Dancer
2009 - 2013	Master of Fine Arts in Choreography, Graduate School of Choreography, Taipei National University of the Arts, Taiwan
2013 & 2011	Best Featured Performer Award (Dance) for the 9th & 11th BOH Cameronian Arts Awards
2014	Best Group Performance (Dance) with DPAC Dance Company for the 12th BOH Cameronian Arts Awards in Malaysia
2012 - 2016	Damansara Performing Arts Centre & DPAC Dance Company, Artistic Director
2018 - 2020	MyDance Alliance, Vice-president
2018 - present	Dance Department, University of Malaya, Lecturer