BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Tan Beng Tian is a disciple of the late renowned traditional hand puppet master Li Bofen. She is a recipient of the JCCI Singapore Foundation Culture Award and also the Straits Times Life! Award.

A co-founder of The Finger Players and a proud member of Singapore Drama Educators Association, major companies she has worked with in her thirty-year career are Drama Box, Esplanade Theatres on the Bay, The Finger Players, The Necessary Stage, The Theatre Practice, Toy Factory Productions, Wild Rice and Zuni Icosahedron (Hong Kong).

As a multifaceted independent theatre practitioner, Beng Tian is passionate about making performing arts accessible for all. Besides ensuring accessibility in shows she produces and directs, she provides her expertise and services to companies that share the same belief in genuine accessibility, the latest being with Equal Dreams.

CHRISTINE LEONG

A former arts manager and current fundraiser, Christine Leong is glad for the opportunity to continue contributing to the arts through serving as a member of the board.

GOH CHIN HOU

Goh Chin Hou is an experienced operations leader with over 15 years of expertise in the global food and beverage industry. He has held key leadership positions at renowned brands including Kopi Kenangan, Burger King, Starbucks, Cedele, and Nestle.

Notably, as Chief Operating Officer at Kopi Kenangan, he was instrumental in scaling the brand into one of Indonesia’s most prominent coffee chains.

A graduate of the National University of Singapore with a BA in Economics and Theatre Studies, Chin Hou maintains a deep-rooted passion for the arts. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for The Finger Players, contributing his strategic and operational expertise to the local theatre community.

JANELLE YEO

Janelle Yeo is a financial services professional with extensive experience in asset management, consulting, and regulatory supervision. She previously served as CFO at Eastspring Investments Group (a Prudential plc subsidary), where she oversaw finance and strategy and held board positions in its subsidiaries and joint ventures across Asia. Her career began at the Monetary Authority of Singapore as a banking supervisor, followed by management consulting at Oliver Wyman. Janelle holds an MBA from INSEAD, a Bachelor of Accountancy (Hons) from Nanyang Technological University, and is a CFA charterholder. She continues to contribute her expertise within the community, serving as a non‑executive director and volunteering with non‑profit organisations advocating the arts and financial literacy.

LUKE KWEK

Luke Kwek is a regional in-house lawyer with a love for the theatre. A long-time supporter of local theatrical works, with a short foray as freelance practitioner and artistic director of an amateur-run theatre company, he is thankful for this opportunity to volunteer his services as member of the board.

CORE TEAM MEMBERS

OLIVER CHONG

Oliver Chong is a multi-award-winning and published playwright, director, actor, puppeteer; and set and puppet designer. Some of his memorable works include Every Brilliant Thing, A Fiend’s Diary, Roots, I’m Just A Piano Teacher, Cat, Lost & Found, The Book of Living and Dying, Citizen Pig and Citizen Dog. His numerous wins and nominations at The Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards include Production of the Year, Best Director, Best Script, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Ensemble and Best Set Design.

To date, Oliver’s works have been presented at international arts festivals in Paris, Myanmar, Barcelona, Budapest, Ankara, Bangkok, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Malaysia. He has conducted playwriting, directing and acting Masterclasses in Hong Kong and Singapore, and has been committed to helping practitioners fine-tune their crafts since 2014.

Oliver was the Resident Director of THE FINGER PLAYERS (2004 – 2018), Artistic Director (2023-2026), and currently one of the Creative Leads (Research and Practice) of the company. He is also the founding member of A GROUP OF PEOPLE (2008 – 2012) and the founder of ODDCROP Productions (2019 – present). His published works include Roots, The Book of Living and Dying, I’m Just A Piano Teacher and Cat, Lost & Found. Roots was also read and staged in New Zealand by Proudly Asian Theatre in 2018.

CHONG TZE CHIEN

Chong Tze Chien is a core member of The Finger Players and an award winning playwright/director. For his contributions to Singapore Theatre, he was awarded the Young Artist Award by Singapore’s National Arts Council in 2006.

On the national level, Tze Chien was the Creative Director of Singapore Pools’ float and performance in Chingay 2007 and 2008, Co-conceptualist and Writer for NDP 2016, Creative Director of Island Adventures for National Museum of Singapore’s Children’s Season 2012, Artistic Director of The Arts House’s 10th Anniversary in 2014, and the Co-curator of The Studios: Fifty, a festival of 50 iconic Singapore Plays presented by the Esplanade in 2015.

As an arts educator, Tze Chien has been conducting workshops and masterclasses for tertiary institutions and schools in Singapore since 2001. He has taught in NUS, Lasalle College of the Arts and NTU/NIE to name a few. He was a Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) Arts Presentation (Drama) Adjudicator for five years, and the Creative Director of SYF Concert 2019. He currently sits on the Curriculum Development Assessment Committee in Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

ELLISON TAN

Ellison Tan Yuyang is a Singaporean-Chinese performer, playwright and educator. She is a Core Team Member of The Finger Players. She is also a Co-Founder of The Wanderlings – the first Singaporean collective to create baby theatre.

Ellison’s background is in puppetry, playwriting, the Suzuki Method of Actor Training and Viewpoints. She was conferred the National Arts Council Arts Scholarship in 2020 to pursue a Masters in Theatre for Young Audience.

LAM DAN FONG

Lam Dan Fong recently co-founded The Props Collective and The Backstage Affair with like-minded individuals as she believes in the power and impact of art and is invested in finding solutions to making art more socially and economically sustainable.

She was part of the pioneer batch of ARTivate, the youth wing of Drama Box Ltd and has extensive experience in production management with many local theatre companies. Her education in Accountancy has definitely given her an edge in her career. She is a member of The Finger Players Core Team.

MYRA LOKE

Myra Loke is a puppeteer, actor, educator, designer and theatre-maker. She started her journey in Singapore’s theatre 13 years ago when she co-created and participated in ARTivate (Pioneer Batch), a youth wing of Drama Box Ltd.

Now, Myra is a member of the core team of The Finger Players. She has since directed and led productions such as Little Mournings (as part of The Maker’s Project 2020) and Peepbird.

Myra continues to contribute as a performer and puppet designer and maker. She has performed, designed and made puppets for productions such as OIWA – The Ghost of Yotsuya (Singapore International Festival of Arts 2021), Framed, By Adolf, The Spirits Play, ITSY- The Musical, The Flying Dutchman, Turn by Turn We Turn and several others.

In 2017, Myra co-created “You Can Reach The Sky”, Singapore’s first immersive theatrical experience for babies. In 2018, Myra co-founded an arts collective, The Wanderlings, where she continues her work in engaging young people and people with special needs.

ONG KIAN SIN (CO-FOUNDER)

Ong Kian Sin is co-founder of The Finger Players. He often designs and constructs puppets. His puppet creations were seen in Furthest North, Deepest South, First Family, Wong Kar Wai Dreams, Twisted, Flare and suitCASES. In 2007, he staged 0501, a site-specific production that won two technical awards (Set and Sound Design) at the 8th Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards, as well as a President’s Design Award. His subsequent directorial works include Let Dreams Fly, Twisted, Whispers (Huayi Festival) and The Musical Canvas (Ding Yi/Esplanade FYI). Some performing credits include: The Book of Living and Dying, Turn by Turn We Turn, Senang (Drama Box) and One Metre Square: Voices from Sungei Road (Wild Rice).

SINDHURA KALIDAS

Sindhura Kalidas is a theatre maker and educator. Over the years, she has diversified her largely performance-based portfolio to include writing, facilitating, directing, and dramaturgy through her training and work with companies such as Teater Ekamatra, The Necessary Stage (TNS), and The Finger Players (TFP). Sindhu was the first recipient of the TFP Fellowship, a year-long leadership development programme for mid-career practitioners to deepen their understanding of puppetry.

In 2021, Sindhu was awarded the NAC Postgraduate Arts Scholarship. She holds an MA (Distinction) in Dramaturgy and Writing for Performance from Goldsmiths, University of London. Sindhu is developing a dramaturgical practice focused on care and empathy, specifically when working with traditionally underrepresented and misrepresented communities.

TAN XIANG YI

With a background in stage management, Tan Xiang Yi joined The Finger Players as Project Manager in 2020. She now continues her journey with the team as their Company Manager.

LOO AN NI

Loo An Ni is fascinated with the tactility of objects and spaces. This brought her into theatre where possibilities are endless. Having taken on various roles behind the scenes from design and construction of costumes and puppets to wardrobe management, her current interest is exploring how these two fields can meld with or complement each other.

Recent works include Peepbird (Puppets; The Finger Players), nominated for Best Costume (Max Tan) with Puppet Design and Build in The Straits Times Life Theatre Awards 2022, First Fleet (Costume; Nine Years Theatre and Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre), awarded Best Production and Best costume in 2020, and Windward Side of the Mountain (Costume; SAtheCollective, Nine Years Theatre and T.H.E Dance Company).

MYRA LOKE

Myra Loke is a puppeteer, actor, educator, designer and theatre-maker. She started her journey in Singapore’s theatre 13 years ago when she co-created and participated in ARTivate (Pioneer Batch), a youth wing of Drama Box Ltd.

Now, Myra is a member of the core team of The Finger Players. She has since directed and led productions such as Little Mournings (as part of The Maker’s Project 2020) and Peepbird.

Myra continues to contribute as a performer and puppet designer and maker. She has performed, designed and made puppets for productions such as OIWA – The Ghost of Yotsuya (Singapore International Festival of Arts 2021), Framed, By Adolf, The Spirits Play, ITSY- The Musical, The Flying Dutchman, Turn by Turn We Turn and several others.

In 2017, Myra co-created “You Can Reach The Sky”, Singapore’s first immersive theatrical experience for babies. In 2018, Myra co-founded an arts collective, The Wanderlings, where she continues her work in engaging young people and people with special needs.