On Tuesday evening at Mediacorp Theatre in Singapore, the winners of the Singapore Prize were revealed at an opulent ceremony at Earthshot prize, founded by Prince William with his Royal Foundation charity to encourage innovation to address climate change, were revealed. Prince William joined a host of celebrities – actor Donnie Yen and actress Lana Condor along with Nomzano Mbatha and Robert Irwin were present – walking down its green carpet for this important event. William said he was greatly inspired by all finalists’ solutions which ranged from solar-powered dryers to making electric car batteries cleaner – giving him hope that our planet can be fixed.
Winners received not only a monetary prize but also received a catalytic Singapore dollar million to assist them with scaling their solutions. This year’s finalists included companies using drones to map coral reefs, convert food waste into biofuel and reduce costs associated with producing clean energy from sunlight.
Winners were determined by a panel of five judges led by NUS President Professor Mahbubani and including historian Prof John Miksic and Tan Tai Yong of Singapore University of Social Sciences – among them was nonfiction category winner Hidayah Amin’s book Leluhur: Singapore’s Kampong Gelam which covers its social and economic history over 200 years.
Fiction, readers’ favorite English and Tamil were the other categories available for competition; each winner in these three areas earned a cash prize of $3,000 plus a commissioned trophy and 12-month gift code to StoryTel library online library.
This year’s competition was particularly fierce, drawing a higher number of submissions than ever before. Ultimately, winning works were chosen on their ability to engage, provoke thought and entertain Singaporeans while remaining relevant and engaging for readers of all genres.
This year’s winning entries were selected by a panel of five judges led by NUS Professor Mahbubani and comprised of historians John Miksic and Tan Tai Yong. Hidayah Amin’s book Leluhur: Singapore’s Kampong Gloam won in the nonfiction category while other finalists included: