During his four-day visit, the Prince of Wales will call on Singapore leaders and meet Prime Minister Lee Hsen Loong at the Istana during his stay. He will also attend a gala awards ceremony on Tuesday to present the Earthshot prize, founded by him and his Royal Foundation charity in 2020 to recognise and scale-up innovative ideas that will help to “repair” the planet. The prince will award the prizes, which each come with a PS1 million grant to support the winners’ projects, to five green innovators working on projects such as cleaner lithium-ion batteries and ocean conservation.
The prince was welcomed to the city by its mayor and other officials, with some of its skyscrapers lit up in green. He wore a 10-year-old dark green blazer by Alexander McQueen as he and other guests walked what organizers described as a “green carpet.” Actors Hannah Waddingham and Sterling K Brown co-hosted the event, and bands One Republic and Bastille as well as singer Bebe Rexha performed. Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, a trustee of the Earthshot board, also attended.
The gala will also honor a number of filmmakers and actors, including Makbul Mubarak for his film “Autobiography,” which won the Best Asian Film prize at the Silver Screen Awards in Singapore. The film made its debut at the Venice Film Festival earlier this year and went on to win awards at other festivals including the Golden Horse, QCity, Marrakech, Jogja-NETPAC and Stockholm. It was the first time a film from Asia had won the top prize at the Silver Screen Awards.
Also honoured was unpublished Singaporean writer Sharlene Wen-Ning Teo, who won the Deborah Rogers prize for writers, a PS10,000 grant to support authors as they finish their first novels. The prize was presented by Ian McEwan, who read an extract from Teo’s unfinished novel Ponti.
Other winners included director and actor Ang Lee for his work on the film Cold War, which won the Asian Cinema Award for Best Feature, and the director of documentary The Last Train to Pakistan, Khaled Khurshid, for his work documenting a deadly Taliban bombing in 2014. The awards were handed out at the Star Theatre, with an audience of over 4,000 people.
For those who are not able to attend the live events, the ceremony will be broadcast at the Star Theatre. In addition, the event will be streamed online via Facebook Live. For more information, visit the official website for the event. The ceremony will take place from 7pm to 10pm Singapore time. The broadcast will be in multiple languages, including English. It will be free for viewers worldwide. The winner list will be published in due course. For more information, visit the official website of the prize. The announcement will be made by a representative of the panel of judges, which includes filmmakers Lav Diaz and Ritu Sarin. The awards are administered by the Singapore International Film Festival Trust, with support from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.