Faridah Merican

1. Name: Faridah Merican/ Faridah Merican Basha Merican, Dato

2. Occupation: Theater activist, Actress, Director, Producer, Broadcaster

3. Date of birth: 1939

4. Education:

1. Teacher’s Training College, Kota Bahru (1950)

2. St George’s Girls School, Penang

5. Contributions:

1. Executive Producer and Co-Founder of The Performing Arts Centre of Penang (PENANGPAC)

2. Dubbed the First Lady of Malaysian Theatre
3. Co-Founder of The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC) with YTL group, Yayasan Budi Penyayang and The Actors Studios
4. A board of directors at Ogilvy & Mather
5. Co-Founder of the theater group KAMI (1980s)
6. Directed theater at the Middlesex University, England, British Council grant (1980s)
7. Co-Founded of The Actors Studio
8. Freelance broadcaster, programme host and newsreader with Radio Malaysia (1960s)
9. Lead roles in plays like Syed Alwi’s Alang Rentak Seribu and Usman Awang’s Uda dan Dara

6. Honours and Awards:

1. Honorary Master of Letters from Universiti Sains Malaysia’s 35th Convocation (2006)

2. Received honorary title Dato’ Paduka Tuanku Jaafar’ by the Yang Di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan (2005)

3. Awarded BOH Cameronian Lifetime Achievement Award at the country’s annual art awards (2004)