Winners of the 2023 Earthshot Prize, an award for innovations tackling climate change, were announced at a ceremony in Singapore on Tuesday. Celebrities including actor Donnie Yen and Australian wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin joined Britain’s Prince William on the “green carpet” to honor innovations ranging from solar-powered dryers to making electric car batteries greener. The winners were selected from more than 150 entries in five categories: nature protection, clean air, ocean revival, waste elimination, and climate change.
During the event, winners were presented with their awards by celebrity hosts and environmentalists from around the world, including actor and UN Messenger of Peace Cate Blanchett and singer and UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador Lana Del Rey. Winners included Accion Andina, GRST, WildAid Marine Program and S4S Technologies, and were celebrated for their achievements at the inaugural awards event in Asia.
The NUS Singapore History Prize was established in 2014 to recognise important publications on Singapore’s history, broadly understood to include its pre-1819 heritage and Singapore’s place in the world. Mooted by Kishore Mahbubani, distinguished fellow at the NUS Asia Research Institute, and administered by the Department of History at NUS, the Prize aims to encourage engagement with Singapore’s past among Singaporeans and the wider community.
This year, six publications were shortlisted for the prize, which comes with a cash prize of S$50,000 and a commissioned trophy. Members of the public can vote for their favourite book by filling out a ballot form at any Singapore Pools outlet until October 2 and stand a chance to win up to S$3,000 worth of book-purchase vouchers.
NUS historian Prof John Miksic, who chaired this year’s prize jury, said that the choice of Leluhur: Singapore Kampong Glam – as the winner – is particularly significant. He said the book is both a synthesis of history and also a primary source, as it incorporates Ms Hidayah’s own personal inputs. “It’s an affirmation that you don’t have to be a professional historian to produce a work on Singapore history,” he added.
Mr Mahbubani indicated that there may be plans to expand the scope of the Prize to include non-fiction writing and other forms of historical expression such as movies or comic books. He used the movie 12 Years a Slave as an example, saying that it was not always possible to get people to engage with the complexities of Singapore’s past using only academic writing. “But there is a growing sense that sometimes, you can tell history through fiction as well,” he said. “And that is a good thing.”