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Ho Kah Leong

Ho Kah Leong (b. 21 September 1937, Singapore -) a Cantonese, who established his name as both a politician and an artist. The former Member of Parliament of Jurong Constituency also served as Parliamentary Secretary in various ministries. He is an acclaimed amateur artist, proficient in oil painting and had been principal of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) since 1997.

Education
His education began at Sin Cheng School and continued onto Chung Cheng High School. He joined Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) from 1955 to 1956 but continued to pursue a professional degree, graduating from Nanyang University in 1963 with a Bachelor of Science in Physics.

Career
He was teacher at Nan Chiau High School and Chung Hwa Girls' High School. He also served as Member of Parliament for Jurong constituency from 1966 until 1996. He joined the Ministry of Education as a parliamentary secretary and later served in various ministries as senior parliamentary secretary namely Ministry of Communications, Information and the Arts and Ministry of the Environment. In 1997, he retired from politics to join NAFA as its principal.

The artist
A celebrated amateur artist, he is well-known for his oil paintings with nature and serene Malay kampongs or "villages" as the main subject matter. He usually paints during weekends choosing scenic locations like Pulau Ubin or the various nature parks in Singapore. Going beyond scenery, Ho also does calligraphy. He participated in many group exhibitions since 1978, holding his first solo exhibition in March 1997. He took part in the President Charity Art Exhibition in October 1997.

His works are widely collected by government departments and private collectors. Mr Ho used the popularity of his works to raise funds for charity, often through donations of his paintings for this purpose. His coffee-table volume, Beautiful Lion City: The Art of Ho Kah Leong was sold to raise funds to upgrade PAP Community Foundation (PCF) kindergartens. He also produced three calendars featuring his paintings for charity causes such as the Basketball Ball Association Building fund and Jurong Town community Centre building fund.

Timeline
1965 - 1970 : School Teacher, Nan Chiau High School
1970 - 1975 : School Teacher, Chung Hwa Girls' High School
Nov 1966 - Dec 1996 : Member of Parliament for Jurong
1968 - 1981 : President, Singapore Chinese Middle School Teachers' Union.
1975 - 1981 : General Manager, Educational Publications Bureau Pte Ltd.
1979 : Executive Committee Member, Asian Basketball Confederation.
1979 - 1982 : Honorary Treasurer, Singapore Consumers' Club.
2 May 1981 - 1 Jan 1985 : Parliamentary Secretary (Education).
2 Jan 1985 - 17 Feb 1986 : Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Education)
18 Feb 1986 - 27 Nov 1990 : Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Ministry of Communications and Information Technology).
1988 : Deputy, Government Whip
28 Nov 1990 - 1 Jan 1994 : Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Ministry of Information and the Arts)
1991- 1997 : President, Basketball Association of Singapore.
2 Jan 1994 - 24 Jan 1997 : Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Ministry of Environment)
1997: Appointed Principal, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

Other offices held
Vice-President, CASE
President, Singapore Art Federation
Member, Singapore Art Museum board
Member, National Arts Council
Chairman, Moral Home for Disabled Adults
Director, Comfort Group Ltd
Director, SuperBowl Hldgs Ltd,
Board Member: G&W Group Hldgs, Sculpture Square Ltd, Nanyang Fine Arts Foundation Ltd., Parkway Healthcare Foundation Ltd.


Awards
1981 : NTUC Friend of Labour Medal
2000 : Peru Cultural Medal
Aug 2001 : Honorary Doctorate (PhD in Doctor of Philosophy in Arts) conferred by the Wisconsin International University USA.

Family
Father: Ho Foo Sen
Mother: Wong Kaw Moey
Wives: Khoo Choo Eng (d. 1996), Chan Lai Kiew (m. 1997)
Children: One son and three daughters

Publications (selective)
Beautiful lion city: the art of Kah Kah Leong. (1996). Singapore: [s. n.]
(Call no.: RSING 759.95957 HO)

A passion for painting: an exhibition of paintings joint art album with Mr K C Lee. (1995). Singapore: Takashima Gallery
(Call no.: RSING 759.95957 PAS)

Nan yang xiang tu qing [Idyllic Nanyang]. (2000). Xin jia po: Nan yang yi shu xue yuan.
(Call no.: RSING q759.95957 HKL)


Author
Sitragandi Arunasalam



References
Low, K. C., & Dunlop, P. K. G. ( Eds.). (2000). Whos who in Singapore (p. 83). Singapore: Whos Who Publishing.
(Call no.: RSING 920.05957 WHO)

Ministry of Culture. (1997). Biographical notes of the President, Prime Minister and ministers. Singapore: Publicity Division, Ministry of Culture.
(Call no.: RSING 328.59570922 BIO)

Jurong journeys (p. 42). (1996). Singapore: Oracle Works: PAP Jurong Branch.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 JUR)

Goh, J. (1991, August 15). Drawn to art by husband Ho Kah Leong. The Straits Times, p. 22.

Leong, W. K. (1997, March 24). Artist MP gives two works to Parliament. The Straits Times. p. 3.

Leong, W. K. (1996, April 16). Puts out art book to raise funds for kindergartens. The Straits Times, Life, p. 3.

Proactive Media . (1999). The Art Gallery of Mr Ho Kah Leong. Retrieved March 3, 2003, from www.living2000.com.sg/hkl/ 

The information in this article is valid as at 2003 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Personalities>>Biographies>>Political Leaders
Personalities>>Biographies>>Artists
Arts>>Visual Arts>>Painting
Politicians--Singapore
Artists--Singapore
Arts>>Painting>>Oil painting
Law and government>>Public administration>>Parliament



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