The singapore prize recognises literary merit in Singapore’s four languages – English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil – as well as other genres such as poetry and drama. The prize is organised by the Singapore Book Council and awarded to writers whose works have been published in Singapore.
This year’s winners include four books: Ali bin Salim, Daryl Qilin Yam, Pan Zheng Lei (Pan Cheng Lui) and rmaa cureess by Rama Suresh. They have all won the Readers’ Favourite award, which recognises a book that has been voted for by the public as their favourite.
These prizes are accompanied by cash awards and the holder will have the opportunity to appear in the Singapore Book Awards’ annual ceremony in June 2020. The books are published by the Singapore Book Council, and all winners will receive a special hand-crafted trophy and a 12-month gift code to audiobook platform StoryTel.
In the past, the singapore prize has been awarded to writers such as Tan Twan Eng, Jojo Moyes and David Mitchell. It has also been awarded to musicians such as violinist Dmytro Udovychenko and guitarist Yong-Seok Kim.
A housing complex for senior citizens has beaten off flashier competition to be named “World Building of the Year” at the World Architecture Festival. The Kampung Admiralty project in Singapore, designed by WOHA, was praised for its integration of public facilities and community space.
It has been a long time since a Singaporean has won the Nobel Prize in a scientific field. But the chances are good that one will come to fruition in this enviably research-friendly country.
The Nobel Prize, which carries an S$10 million prize, is awarded annually to an individual or group who has made a significant contribution to science. The Nobel Committee consists of experts in six fields: physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, peace and economics.
In a swoop, the Swedish government has made it possible for scientists who have been working in Asia to compete with those from elsewhere. Those who are nominated for this award have to be a citizen of at least one Asian country, and the nominated work must have been completed in the last two years.
But it’s a tall order for a small country like Singapore to have its own home-grown Nobel Prize winner. The high standard of education in the nation has to be maintained if the prize is to remain viable and meaningful, and that means a continuous investment of time and money.
A few of the finalists in this year’s competition have already been selected, and we can expect more winners before the next event. Among them are a Singapore-born author whose novel, Sembawang, follows an extended family living through leftist political movements and detentions in both Singapore and Malaysia, and a writer who has spent her life documenting the history of AIDS in Indonesia.
The list of finalists is a long one, but the winner will be announced at a prize ceremony in June, where the recipient will receive S$50,000 in prize money, as well as a plaque and other perks. The jury includes academic Khoo Gaik Cheng, filmmaker Lucky Kuswandi and artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen.