The One Utama Ballroom is filled with excitement! The ambience almost likens a long-lost family gathering as both familiar and new faces meet and greet each other with smiles, hugs and laughter. In the midst of the excitement, there is also a feeling of anticipation as everyone eagerly awaits the 9th BOH Cameronian Arts Awards to begin!

That's right, ladies and gentlemen – The BOH Cameronian Arts Awards is back!

Kakiseni, and their new team of art activists together with title sponsor, BOH Plantations Sdn Bhd were overjoyed to announce the return of the Awards.

Caroline Russell, CEO of BOH Plantations shared that tonight was indeed an exciting night as it once again gathered the many talents in the performing arts industry and the arts aficionados under one roof to toast and celebrate the industry.

Since the inception of the Awards in 2002, the Awards has been a catalyst for the industry in profiling and raising the awareness not just about the industry as a whole, but also to pay tribute to the men and women who are contributing to its growth and development. Therefore, this has raised the benchmark for the performing arts industry, and has encouraged new talents and bigger and better productions year upon year.

"We are so thrilled to be working with Kakiseni once again to acknowledge the vast sea of talents the industry presents – be it on stage or off stage in dance, musical theatre, acting and singing. BOH is proud to reprise our role to not only recognise and reward these talents but to also share the Ummph of our Malaysian performing arts industry with others," said Russell.

Russell added, "When we last gathered, it was on a bitter-sweet note. We celebrated the performing arts industry, but we also had to bid farewell to Jenny Daneels and Kathy Rowland – the founders of Kakiseni and also the BOH Cameronian Arts Awards."

Despite the announcement of what they thought was a finale in 2009, both BOH and Kakiseni took comfort in seeing an emergence of new arts-based channels such as magazines, websites, blogs and social networking sites that have been initiated to help promote the performing arts to the public. It is also evident that the public has acquired a better appreciation for the performing arts over the years due to the growing number of establishments and schools dedicated to the arts. In addition, there has also seen a significant rise in the number of arts avenues and individuals that are evaluating and writing critically about it.

According to Low Ngai Yuen, of Kakiseni "The BOH Cameronian Arts Awards' goal has always been and will hopefully continue to acknowledge Malaysian performance artistes' talent, struggle, effort and of course the excellence that comes with their dedication to their craft. Most artistes don't dedicate their lives to performing arts for the sake of awards, but we hope this award will serve as a platform for the performance art peers to encourage each other to push the envelope and do better year after year."

Named after BOH's flagship brand, the BOH Cameronian Gold Blend is created for the discerning tea drinker, and is a masterpiece from the excellent conditions of the highlands. "In a nutshell, the BOH Cameronian is the art of tea perfected. Likewise with the Awards, we are recognising the perfection of our performing arts industry tonight," added Russell.