The Singapore Prize is a biennial award celebrating publications about Singapore’s history. Open to non-fiction works written in English or translated into it, books submitted should address any period, theme or field related to Singapore history and make an important contribution towards better understanding its people and place.
Winners of the Singapore Prize will receive a cash prize of S$50,000. Kishore Mahbubani, Distinguished Fellow at NUS Asia Research Institute and member of its jury, noted that this year’s competition aims to address “missing pieces” in Singapore’s narrative. According to him, Benedict Anderson noted that nations are “imagined communities”, with shared histories serving as glue that connects their existence together.
Each entry to the Singapore Prize will also receive a citation as recognition of their contribution and to encourage others to contribute their knowledge about Singapore’s past.
This year’s competition features six entries – NUS Press has entered their book about life in an average Singaporean family which challenges our understanding of history as a record of great movers and shakers; Kamaladevi Aravindan explores life on an estate over five decades; while Ang Ching-Kuan explores how public libraries shape Singaporean identity; with winners set to be announced in October 2021.
Singapore Prize, established in 1995, is not the only award dedicated to literature and publishing in Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew Literary Award was first introduced in 1992 as a multi-million dollar prize fund dedicated to both fiction and nonfiction works written in different languages, honoring their first Prime Minister with this honour.
Singapore recently held a ceremony to recognize and award science and technology professionals, including the President’s Science and Technology Award. These awards honor scientists and engineers working for government agencies, private companies and public research institutions for their contributions in pushing scientific research forward in Singapore.
Singapore Pools offers several lottery games with differing odds of winning, such as TOTO which boasts one in eleven chances to claim its top prize of $3 Million. A calculator on their website shows just how much a player stands to gain per draw.
William donned a dark green suit, while other presenters walked a green carpet at the event featuring performances by U.S. singer Bebe Rexha and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern both of whom are trustees for Earthshot, the organization that won top honors.