Saw Teong Hin () is a

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

, best known for directing the

Malay language Malay ( , ; , Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language spoken primarily by Malays (ethnic group), Malays in several islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula on the mainland Asia. The lang ...

epic fantasy film ''

Puteri Gunung Ledang The legend revolves around a celestial princess who lived on Mount Ledang, located in present-day Tangkak District, Johor, Malaysia. Hikayat Hang Tuah ''Puteri Gunung Ledang'' is mentioned by name to be the sultan's daughter (or a citizen, dep ...

'' and '' You Mean the World to Me'', the first Malaysian film filmed entirely in Hokkien.

Early life and education

Saw was born in

George Town, Penang George Town is the capital of the States and federal territories of Malaysia, Malaysian state of Penang. It is the core city of the George Town Conurbation, Malaysia's List of cities and towns in Malaysia by population#Largest metropolitan are ...

in the year of 1962 to Quah Cheng Sooi and Saw Seng Chuan; both

Hokkien Hokkien ( , ) is a Varieties of Chinese, variety of the Southern Min group of Chinese language, Chinese languages. Native to and originating from the Minnan region in the southeastern part of Fujian in southeastern China, it is also referred ...

people. His paternal grandfather was adopted, likely from his great-grandfather who had conducted businesses in the northern states. He received a scholarship to study double physics and mathematics at the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

, though he never graduated. It was also during this period that he decided to switch interests. Saw felt an immense guilt over his eventual failure, even though his parents would still accept the outcome, thus he went straight to

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

to live on his own after finishing his stint at the university. He took interest in the field of advertising, calling as many agencies as he could asking for any job vacancies available. His calls went unnoticed except for one lady from

Ogilvy and Mather Ogilvy is a New York City-based British advertising, marketing, and public relations agency. It was founded in 1850 by Edmund Mather as a London-based agency. In 1964, the firm became known as Ogilvy & Mather after merging with a New York City a ...

who referred him to Joe Hasham, who offers Saw a job in his company as production assistant and later advertisement film director.

Career

Other projects

Saw was selected to become the creative director for both opening and closing ceremonies of the

2017 Southeast Asian Games The 2017 Southeast Asian Games (), officially known as the 29th Southeast Asian Games, or the 29th SEA Games, and commonly known as Kuala Lumpur 2017, were a Southeast Asian multi-sport event that took place from 19 to 30 August 2017 in Kuala ...

Filmography

Film

Awards

References

External links

* {{Malaysian film directors Living people Malaysian film directors

Saw A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, Wire saw, wire, or Chainsaw, chain with a hard toothed edge used to cut through material. Various terms are used to describe toothed and abrasive saws. Saws began as serrated materials, and when man ...

Malaysian people of Hokkien descent Malaysian people of Chinese descent People from George Town, Penang Mass media people from Penang 1962 births