The Singapore prize is the only book award in the country to recognize work in all four of its official languages, and the only one that recognizes works that are not necessarily fiction or nonfiction. The awards also span a range of formats, including multimedia works like films. This year, the prize branched out to include an event that showcased innovations that are helping address a range of societal challenges.
This was the first time that this event was held online, which required an effort to create a digital version of a ceremony that normally takes place in a room in Singapore’s Ritz-Carlton Millenia hotel. The winners were recognized in an online video that was broadcast around the world, and that ran for about an hour and a half.
During that period, the online video drew a combined audience of over a million people from all over Asia. It also garnered a lot of attention from news outlets, including the BBC and Reuters. The audience included representatives of many of the companies that won this year’s prizes, and it was also attended by several members of parliament from the countries of the region.
Some of the finalists in this year’s program were from large multinationals with headquarters outside of Singapore, and that prompted many commentators to wonder whether or not those companies should have been eligible for the prizes. The jury that selected the winners was composed of Singaporeans and other Asian scholars, and the organizers of the program said that they had weighed the contributions of both local and international authors.
This year’s awards also included a new category that celebrated family enterprises that are doing well because of their legacy and values. Some of the companies that won this year’s awards were family businesses with multiple generations involved in leadership, such as the Ho Bee Land group and Agrocorp International. Other family enterprises that were honored include the Hong Leong Group, Sing Lun Holdings Pte Ltd and Jebsen & Jessen (SEA).
The winner in this category was 71-year-old American professor John Miksic for his book Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300-1800. It is the first book devoted to Singapore’s history to win the prize, which was established in 2014 as part of a series of programs to celebrate the nation’s five decades of independence. The prize is administered by NUS’ Department of History, and it carries a cash prize of S$50,000.
Prof Miksic had started the research for the book in the early 1980s, when he first came to Singapore to conduct archaeological excavations of historical sites. He said that the book was a labor of love that sought to give credit to some 1,000 “discoverers” who had helped with excavations in Singapore over the years. He plans to use the prize money for continuing his work on Singapore’s history. He also hopes to develop a website on ancient artefacts found in the country.