KUALA LUMPUR: Entrepreneur Khairul Aming emerged the main winner in the inaugural TikTok Awards MY 2023 tonight.
Khairul won the Creator Of The Year award in the People's Choice category determined by public voting.
The 30-year-old Kelantanese thanked all of his fans for supporting his culinary-themed TikTok videos which focused on his Sambal Nyet products.
"Thank you so much for supporting my social media posts all these years. Food, especially Malaysian traditional cuisine, is my passion," said Khairul who has more than 3.7 million Instagram followers.
Ikhmal, Aeril Zafrel, Ryan Bakery, Tiger Labu, Upin & Ipin and Anas Zahrin won the Rising Star Of The Year, Celebrity Creator Of The Year, Popular Creator Of The Year, Live Creator Of The Year, Popular Animation Account Of The Year and TikTok Shop Creator Of The Year respectively in the People's Choice category.
K-Drama reviewer Eiqa Maleq won the Entertainment award in the Judges' Pick category determined by professional judges.
The other winners were Shahira Azlan, Sir Asai (Ahmad Shahrul Azhan Ibrahim), Sultan Riq, Khalish and Syifa Jamil in the Beauty & Fashion, Education, Gaming, Sports and Food awards respectively in the Judges' Pick category.
The two-hour awards held at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC) off Jalan Duta here at 9pm was created to celebrate and give recognition to Malaysian content providers.
TikTok Malaysia head of operations and marketing Yin Yin Hooi said that local content creators should be applauded for pushing the envelope on coming out with creative content which could serve as sources of inspiration for the communities.
"TikTok Awards MY 2023 celebrates these content creators who have been producing authentic content for the platform for the past few years."
Hooi added that TikTok Malaysia had decided to make the awards an annual event, which could push content creators to come up with more quality works.
With the theme of Big On The Small Screen, the awards was beamed live on TV3 and live-streamed via TikTok Malaysia.
The nominees were selected based on a set of criteria by an executive panel which included Southeast Asia TikTok general manager of operations and marketing Angga Anugrah Putra, singer Hael Husaini, and Media Prima Television Networks and Primeworks Studios chief executive officer Nini Yusof.
Among the celebrities who served as award presenters were filmmaker Datuk Yusof Haslam, actor Bell Ngasri, model and actress Amber Chia and gymnast Farah Ann Abdul Hadi.
The guest artistes who entertained viewers and audiences included Datuk Seri Siti Nurhaliza, Ziana Zain, Zeppo Youngsterz, Dolla, Marsha Milan Londoh, Ernie Zakri and Alyph.
The awards show was hosted by actors and actresses Izzue Islam Mazlan, Sherry Alhadad and Amelia Henderson, while the Red Carpet event held at 8.30pm was hosted by social media influencer Ceddy Ang and singer Sissy Imann.
The backstage interviews were handled by actor Jaa Suzuran and singer Neeta Manis.