Singapore Prize 2023 Winners Announced
The Singapore prize recognises books that have made a significant impact on the understanding of the country’s history and its development into the thriving nation it is today. The prize is administered by the National University of Singapore’s department of history, and was launched in 2014 as part of the SG50 celebrations to mark the country’s 50th anniversary. It is the first ever book award devoted to Singapore’s history.
Prof Miksic’s book won the prize for its “fundamental reinterpretation” of where Singapore began. It had drawn on literary records to suggest that the country was already a trading post in the 13th century, and had been known as Longyamen or Dragon Teeth’s Gate. It also highlighted that there had been a long period of Chinese influence on Singapore, which helped shape the country into its current identity.
A healthy civil society depends on people who are committed to their communities and who, at pivotal times, put the common good before their own interests. This is the spirit embodied by the Harvard Prize Book.
It was a green carpet night as celebrities including actors Donnie Yen, Lana Condor and Nomzano Mbatha walked the glitzy event at a theatre in state-owned Media Corp. The Prince of Wales was also present, and looked coordinated in a dark green blazer which matched the green carpet he walked on.
The winners of the Earthshot awards were unveiled at a ceremony in Singapore on Tuesday. The Prince of Wales, who founded the awards in 2020, said the solutions presented by the five finalists — which include solar-powered dryers to combat food waste and making electric car batteries more efficient — show that hope remains for the planet’s future.
Among the winners was the Accion Andina organisation, which works across South America to protect indigenous high Andean forest ecosystems for their benefit to nature and millions of local communities. The other winners included the Global Food Security Institute, which aims to reduce the risk of malnutrition by producing affordable and nutritious foods from local crops, and iKnow, an education technology platform for parents and teachers.
The awards were organised by the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH). The 2023 edition was the first to introduce a translation category, and is open to fiction, non-fiction, and comics in English. The prize will be awarded on a three-year cycle and has a monetary value of S$50,000. The submissions were evaluated by a panel of judges led by Chairman of the NUS East Asian Institute Wang Gungwu. More information can be found on the SPH website.