The Singapore Prize – A New Awards Platform
MARSEILLE, France (Reuters) — There is more at stake for Singapore kiteboarder Max Maeder than Olympic gold this week — he stands to win a one-million-Singapore dollar payout under the country’s major sports award programme. The programme provides cash payouts for athletes who win medals at the Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth and South East Asian Games.
Singapore Prizes
The Singapore Prize is a new awards platform that recognises organisations and individuals for their outstanding contributions to the nation. It honours the work of those who have made a difference in their respective fields of endeavour and in society as a whole, ranging from public service to the arts and sciences, business, the professions and the labour movement.
Each winner receives a trophy and a monetary prize, and is honoured at an awards ceremony that will be held in November. The winners will also feature on a ‘Singapore Prizes’ website and social media account.
A Singapore Prize will be awarded to organisations and individuals in each of the following categories:
In the ‘Nation Building’ category, the prize honours those who have made a contribution to building a strong and cohesive Singapore as an inclusive and harmonious multi-ethnic society. The nominations will be reviewed by a panel of judges, including senior civil servants, members from the private sector and the community, and a representative from the Singapore Council for Social Services.
The ‘Singapore History’ category was created in 2014 as part of the SG50 programme to celebrate the Republic’s 50th anniversary. Launched with a grant from the late Confucian scholar and philanthropist Alan Chan, it is the first prize to be dedicated solely to Singapore’s history. It is administered by the National University of Singapore’s history department. It received 43 submissions in its inaugural year.
Its jury, chaired by Prof Kishore Mahbubani of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, selects the winner from among non-fiction publications on Singapore’s history. Submissions can be written in English or a translated version, and can focus on any time period, theme or field of Singapore’s history. Fictional works with clear historical themes may also be submitted.
This year, the prize has shortlisted six books whose authors take up various angles in interpreting and telling the story of Singapore. They include historian Vincent Tong’s Seven Hundred Years: A History of Singapore, which tells the stories of everyday Singaporeans; and researcher Joanna M. Miksic’s work on Singapore’s ancient artefacts, which she says offers a “fundamental reinterpretation” of the city-state’s origins. They are joined by a biography of one of the country’s most dangerous gangsters by historian and journalist John Miksic. All the shortlisted titles are available at major bookstores. The winner will be announced in October 2021. A full list of the nominees can be found on the NUS website.