Low Ngai Yuen

Low Ngai Yuen

Director of Kakiseni
In the multi-ethnic country of Malaysia where Malay, Chinese and Indian represent the three major ethnic cultures, Kakiseni was founded in 2001 as the only online platform for artists to gather online, post information about productions and events, share news about auditions, reviews, interviews, and thus functioning as a hub for the artists and for the arts information. Since Ms. Low Ngai Yuen assumed the role of the organization’s second director in 2009, Kakiseni has been transforming into a platform with a fuller range of programs. Apart from keeping and expanding the legacy of the Boh Cameronian Arts Awards, the new Kakiseni has been presenting new programs to stimulate and inspire the Malaysian arts scene, such as KakiSENI Festival and the Kakiseni Arts Exchange program for international exchange. In 2011, it also started the Kakiseni Grants program together with the government to establish a comprehensive scheme of public funding for the performing arts in Malaysia.

With its rapidly growing economy, Malaysia now boasts a National Theatre (Istana Budaya) with South East Asia’s top quality of facilities, while its KL Performing Arts Centre, Malaysia’s first full-scale private arts center, helps the arts grow by nurturing young talents and producing internationally acclaimed artists. Theatres and galleries are also being built one after another inside the growing number of shopping malls.

With the aim of improving this environment and creating a vital ecosystem of the arts, Kakiseni continues to be a valuable organization that not only creates its own projects but also works to build a network and infrastructure to support and strengthen the performing arts environment.