Born in 1940 in Singapore, Iskandar Jalil is a first generation master-potter with influences from Southeast Asian and Japanese styles. Iskandar was originally trained as a Mathematics and Science teacher. The turning point came for him when the Colombo Plan scholarship enabled him to study ceramic engineering in Japan in 1972, causing him to become a pottery teacher instead. Since 1970s, Iskandar has held exhibitions in Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Sweden. He was awarded the Cultural Medallion in 1988.
