Kuo Pao Kun (1939 - 2002)
The late Kuo Pao Kun was born in Hebei Province, China, in 1939. He came to Singapore in 1949 where he was educated in Mandarin and English. After school, he worked at radio stations in Singapore and later in Australia, maintaining his interest in drama by writing, performing, as well as watching Asian and Western plays staged in the two countries.

In 1965 he set up the Practice Performing Arts School with his wife, Goh Lay Kuan, with the aim of carving a professional niche for the performing arts in Singapore. Over the next twenty years he actively wrote and directed plays in Mandarin and English, conducted countless drama, directing and stage lighting workshops, and introduced local theatre practitioners to the new theatres of China, Taiwan and Hong Kong by inviting guest directors and actors, organising seminars and workshops. He was awarded the Cultural Medallion in 1989 for his outstanding contributions to and achievements in Singapore theatre, and has set up a multi-purpose arts centre called ‘The Substation’. He was the artistic director of Practice Theatre Ensemble and Substation.