A PROMINENT filmmaker and a lesser-known but prolific Malay writer received the Cultural Medallion at a ceremony at The Istana on Friday night.

In front of some 200 guests, Eric Khoo and Isa Kamari were presented with Singapore?s highest arts accolade by President S R Nathan.

They will also be able to tap into a $80,000 grant to fund a project.

Dr Lee Boon Yang, Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, said of the Medallion winners: 'They are our artistic and cultural icons. We admire them for their passion and celebrate their success and contributions to Singapore's artistic landscape.'

First instituted in 1979, the award recognises individuals who have attained excellence in their respective artistic fields. So far, including the two this year, 90 have been given out.

Khoo and Isa were among 33 artists nominated by members of the public this year, and picked by six panels of judges who are specialists in theatre, literature, music, visual arts and film.

Khoo, 41, is the second film-maker to be honoured, after Jack Neo, who received his award in 2005. Seen as instrumental in reviving Singapore's film industry, Khoo has directed three feature films, Mee Pok Man (1995), 12 Storeys (1997) and Be With Me (2005), which have scooped awards at local and overseas film festivals.

His film company, Zhao Wei Films, has produced 10 films here. Khoo told Straits Times Life!: 'It's a great honour. For me, it's a little sentimental that I won for film, which is now considered an art.'

'Exactly 10 years ago I received the Young Artist Award. Now it's the Cultural Medallion. So I don?t have to wait till I?m 60.'

He plans to use the $80,000 grant to fund his next movie, about a bumbling fire-eater and his relationship with his nine-year old son.

Isa, 47, a full-time architect at the Land Transport Authority, is the first non-full-time artist to receive the Medallion.

His name may not be well-known to many outside the Malay literary community, but he is a prolific writer who has published, in Malay, five novels, two collections of poetry, three scripts for television and a play.

Last year, he won the S.E.A. Write Award, presented to poets and writers in South-east Asia, for his body of works, which deal with cross-cultural issues with a focus on Malay identity and religous experiences.

He told Life!: ?Architecture is my profession, but my passion is in writing. Architecture has shaped my thinking about my art, which should encompass a wide range of knowledge.?

His plans for the grant: to write a novel and a documentary script based on the Cham Malay community in Cambodia.

Five other artists were honoured last night with the Young Artist Award, given to artists aged 35 and below who have shown promise of artistic merit in their various fields.

They were dancer Kuik Swee Boon, 34, writer Ting Kheng Siong, 36, theatre director Natalie Hennedige, 32, and a sibling pair, composer-performer Philip Tan, 33, and his sister, visual artist Tan Kai Syng, 32.

They were 41 nominees for the Young Artist award this year and they are each eligible for a $10,000 grant for an arts project.

They join 86 other artists who have received the Award since its inception in 1992.