The NUS Singapore Prize 2016 Shortlist Announces Six Compelling Works
The triennial NUS Singapore History Prize, created as part of a programme to mark Singapore’s 50th anniversary of independence, has announced six compelling works shortlisted for the award. One book, Reviving Qixi: Singapore’s Forgotten Seven Sisters Festival by Lynn Wong Yuqing and Lee Kok Leong, explores a lost cultural practice. Another, Theatres of Memory: Industrial Heritage in 20th Century Singapore by Loh Kah Seng, Alex Tan Tiong Hee, Koh Keng We, and Tan Teng Phee, offers fresh insights into the understudied field of labour and industrial history.
The prize was set up in 2014 by former Singapore diplomat Kishore Mahbubani with an endowment from an anonymous donor. It aims to “stimulate an engagement with Singapore history, broadly understood, both within and beyond the academic community”. The winner will be announced on 23 May at the National Museum of Singapore.
This year, the prize’s Jury Panel has shortlisted six works that reflect different approaches to the study of the past. These range from a memoir by an ex-diplomat to a study of Singapore’s urban landscape, and from a book about a squatter estate to a book that examines the legacy of a couple who created one of Asia’s most successful lotteries. The Jury Panel also singled out two books that deserve special commendation and recognition: Home Is Where We Are, by Khoo Swee Yong and Lily Yong, traces the legacy of a Singaporean-Chinese couple who built one of Asia’s most successful lotteries; and The Food of Singapore Malays: Gastronomic Travels through the Archipelago, by Khir Johari, a tome that took 14 years to publish and weighs in at an impressive 3.2kg, which has already garnered a slew of accolades since its publication by Marshall Cavendish in 2021).
William will visit the headquarters of the Earthshot initiative, which brings together global leaders, businesses and investors to accelerate solutions and bring about tangible action to repair the planet. The Prince will also meet with Singaporeans and witness firsthand how local organizations are tackling challenges such as illegal wildlife trafficking and the effects of climate change.
The event is a highlight of William’s four-day trip to Singapore and Indonesia, which will include a meeting with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loon at The Istana palace. He will also call on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and attend a United for Wildlife summit featuring representatives from law enforcement agencies, conservation groups and corporations working to tackle the trade in illegal wildlife products.