The Singapore Prize, an annual award given to a book on the history of Singapore, has just announced its 2023 winner. The prize is presented to books that illuminate aspects of the country’s history that would otherwise remain untold. It’s open to non-fiction and fiction works with a history slant and is supported by Temasek Trust, the Singapore government investment fund. The winner is announced at a ceremony attended by celebrities including Cate Blanchett, Donnie Yen and Nomzano Mbatha.
Professor Kishore Mahbubani, senior advisor (university and global relations) at NUS, is a member of the jury that selects the winner. He told reporters that the prize might be expanded to include other types of media in addition to books. He said that history can be told more effectively through movies, comics and other formats, and that the goal is to help Singaporeans develop a deeper understanding of their country’s past.
Last year, Professor John Miksic won the inaugural prize for his work Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300-1800, which synthesised 25 years of archaeological research to reconstruct the 14th-century port of Singapore. It triggered a fundamental reinterpretation of Singapore’s history, he said. It also highlighted fragments of historical information in literary records and in the discovery of the remains of a shipwreck that confirmed Singapore’s existence as a trading post.
The prize’s 2023 shortlist includes books such as Leluhur: Singapore’s Kampong Gelam by Hidayah Amin and The 50s: A Time of Firsts by Tiang Kiang Lee, which explores the social changes in the 1950s when Singapore was becoming a developed nation. It also features works with a personal slant, such as Singapore and the Korean War by Prof Chang Yun-Kim.
This year’s shortlist was chosen from 192 submissions, which is 32 fewer than the 224 submitted in 2020. Consumers can vote online for their favorite shortlisted book in each language, with the winners receiving a cash prize of 1,000 Singapore dollars and book vouchers. The public can find a full list of the shortlisted titles and authors, categorized by language, here.
Britain’s Prince William was the guest of honor at this year’s awards ceremony, which saw the five winners showcase their innovative projects to combat climate change. He said the solutions offered hope for a future that’s “kinder to people and planet”. Other celebrities at the event, which was held at a theater in state-owned media firm Media Corp, included Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett, actors Donnie Yen and Lana Condor and conservationist Robert Irwin.
The awards ceremony will be followed by a week of special events led by the Earthshot Prize team. They will bring global leaders, businesses and investors together to accelerate these winning ideas, and bring about tangible action to repair the planet. The events will take place from Monday 6 November to Thursday 10 November in Singapore, with a series of local activations that will see the public interact directly with the prize winners and finalists.