The inaugural Singapore Prize — worth S$50,000 — was launched to commemorate the nation’s 50th anniversary of independence, with entries for the prize able to be submitted from Jan 1. The prize is being administered by NUS Press and the university’s department of history, with Kishore Mahbubani, dean of NUS’ Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, explaining that the competition was inspired by a column he wrote in April, in which he appealed for a cash prize dedicated to writing about Singapore’s history.
The prize will be awarded every three years. It will be open to non-fiction books published in the past 30 months that cover any time period, theme, or field of Singapore’s history.
A distinguished jury panel led by Mahbubani will select and announce a winner towards the end of 2024. The jury panel will consist of eminent academics and scientists from the private and public sectors who have made exceptional contributions in pushing the boundaries of research in Singapore.
In addition to the S$2.3 million top prize, the Harvard Prize Book is rewarded to someone who has demonstrated care and concern for other people over a sustained period of time. This could be through volunteering or running a social enterprise that gives back to the community. Harrison, for example, runs a social enterprise that provides virtual experiential learning for youths, while Si Min’s work revolves around helping the elderly live independently.
Meanwhile, 121 Asian and SEA Games medallists were presented with their awards at Timbre+ One-North on Wednesday (Nov 29). Sprint queen Shanti Pereira was the biggest recipient with a total of S$315,000 for her Asian and two SEA golds.
The first Deborah Rogers writers’ award, a prize for debut authors, went to Sharlene Wen-Ning Teo for her unpublished novel Ponti. The award comes with a S$10,000 grant to help her finish the book. Ian McEwan, who read an excerpt of the manuscript for the jury, described it as “a remarkable first novel in the making”.
NUS also announced the shortlist for this year’s NUS Singapore History Prize. The NUS Singapore History Prize, which was established this year in support of SG50, is the world’s first prize devoted to the city-state’s history. The shortlist includes a book on how the city’s Malay heritage was shaped by the colonial era and a graphic novel that explores the roots of modern Singaporean Malay cuisine, which won a prestigious Eisner Award – known as the Oscars of comics – last year.
The NUS President’s Science and Technology Awards (PSTA) were also awarded at the event. Awarded annually, the PSTA recognises individuals and teams that have made exemplary contributions in various fields of research. The PSTA is the highest accolade for researchers in Singapore, and was elevated to Presidential status in 2009. The awards were founded in 1987 as the National Science Awards, before gaining recognition as the President’s Science and Technology Awards in 2009. The PSTA is managed by NUS, which oversees a prize fund of S$500,000.