Abdul Ghani Hamid was born on 13 Apr 1933 in Kampung Siglap (now Kampung Bahru), East Coast Road in Singapore. An early contributor to arts and literature in Singapore, he began his life in the arts while in school. Working primarily in Malay, he has written hundreds of poems, short stories, articles and plays in both Malay and English. He has also exhibited his paintings at over 60 exhibitions since 1950. He was a co-founder and president of Angkatan Pelukis Aneka Daya (APAD) (Artists of Various Resources) and the recipient of the prestigious Anugerah Tun Sri Lanang award and the S.E.A. Write Award in 1998, and the Cultural Medallion for literature in 1999.

Abdul Ghani Hamid received his education in both Malay and English at Telok Kurau English School and Raffles Institution. As a student in Raffles Institution, he contributed poems and articles to Malay newspapers and magazines. He would often walk from the school’s then location at Bras Basah to a nearby Malay publishing house to collect $5 for each of his published works. During this time, he also exhibited his art for the first time, holding an art exhibition at the Victoria Memorial Hall as part of the Youth Festival.

After completing his studies, Abdul Ghani worked as a clerk at the Singapore Municipality (which became City Council, and subsequently Public Utilities Board) for 33 years, retiring in 1988 at the age of 55. Although he had full-time commitments to his work and was a father of four children, he found time to write and paint. On weekdays, he would write between 9pm and midnight, and the weekends he would devote to painting.

His literary and artistic efforts resulted in deeply metaphysical poems and abstract paintings, displaying a common spirit that showed his passions would never be separate from each other. As he has said, “When I get tired of writing, I paint. And when I get tired of painting, I write”, so it was not unusual that some of his literary and artistic works shared similar subjects and even titles.

Abdul Ghani's literary works have been published in Malaysian literary journals Dewan Sastera and Dewan Bahasa, and he wrote an arts column in Singapore Malay language Sunday newspaper Berita Minggu in the ’70s. He also contributed comic strips to the newspaper and other Malay magazines at under the pen name Lazuardi. When not devoting himself to his poetry or his art, Abdul Ghani also pursued a passion for photography.

In 1962, he founded the Angkatan Pelukis Aneka Daya (APAD) (Artists of Various Resources) with the motto “Secita Mencipta” (Together We Create), to bring together fellow artists to promote their artistic works and to encourage appreciation of visual arts. APAD carries on with its mission today, organising art exhibitions, classes, courses and seminars for all ages. At APAD, he established the APAD medal to recognise excellence in the arts.

In 1960, Abdul Ghani published Sekilas Pandang Senilukis Dan Perkembangannya (A Glimpse of the Arts and its Development), which came to be considered a definitive guide to the history of Singapore Malay arts. His other publication, in 1990, was Seni Indah Masjid Di Singapura (Art of Mosques in Singapore).

In 1998, he was awarded the Anugerah Tun Sri Lanang by the Majlis Bahasa Melayu Singapura (Singapore Malay Language Council). The same year, he received the S.E.A. Write Award. And in 1999, he was honoured with the Cultural Medallion for literature.

When he retired he devoted most of his time to his art. Occasionally, he spent time at his second home in Malacca to get inspiration for his painting and writing.

In 2008, Abdul Ghani suffered a stroke, and fell into ill health. Six years later on his birthday on 13 Apr 2014, he passed away at the age of 81 from pneumonia, leaving a significant legacy of writings, poems, paintings and drama scripts. In a letter of condolence to Abdul Ghani's family, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong remembered the artist as a "leader of the Malay literary, cultural and visual, and performing arts scene in Singapore" (Today, 14 Apr 2014).