A $30,000 book prize has been launched to recognise local fiction and non-fiction works – the richest pot for a Singapore literary award. The Dr Alan HJ Chan Spirit of Singapore Book Prize was established by the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) through a $1 million donation from Confucian scholar Alan Chan. The prize promotes writing that champions mindsets and values important to the formation of Singapore, including equality, diversity, religious harmony, meritocracy and pragmatism. The inaugural prize will be awarded in 2020.
During a star-studded awards ceremony hosted by Hannah Waddingham and three-time Emmy winning actor Sterling K. Brown, Accion Andina, GRST, WildAid Marine Programme and S4S Technologies were named as the 2023 winners of The Earthshot Prize. Prince William travelled to Singapore for the awards, the first time it has been held in Asia, to spotlight the innovative start-ups and tech companies that are leading the fight against climate change.
In a bid to build and strengthen global economic ties, Singapore is bringing South East Asian companies into its new Global Innovation Corridor (GIC) platform. Located at the heart of Asia, the GIC will facilitate business partnerships and provide a gateway for businesses to reach beyond our borders.
The winner of the 2019 Singapore Prize, a biannual award given to books on Singapore’s history, has been announced by NUS History Professor John Miksic for his book Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300-1800. Prof Miksic said he was “honoured” to have won the prize, adding that it was a privilege to receive the prize on behalf of Singapore’s long and varied history.
Several first-time winners took home the top honours at this year’s Singapore Literature Prize (SLP) awards ceremony, including rmaa cureess in the English category and Suratman Markasan in the Tamil category. Wang Gungwu, a nonagenarian who celebrated his 92nd birthday in October, was also crowned the Readers’ Favourite for his memoir The Invisible Man of Changi.
The judges, which included renowned historians Profs Margaret Wang and John Miksic, said Ms Hidayah’s writing had an “unfair advantage” because she grew up in one of the most interesting parts of the city – Kampong Glam. They also praised the fact that she was able to capture the essence of the city and its people in her work, while being sensitive to the needs of readers. They added that Ms Hidayah had a “mastery” of the medium and was not afraid to be bold and experiment with form. Ms Hidayah’s book also won the coveted NUS-Eisenhower Foundation Book Scholarship. She will be able to use the scholarship money to complete her PhD. In addition, the book will be translated into Japanese. It is available to the public from this week.
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