The Singapore Prize is a biennial award from the National University of Singapore (NUS) to recognise important publications on Singapore history. Created in 2014 as part of SG50 celebrations, it is administered by the NUS Department of History. It is open to book-length works, either authored or co-authored, and published in English between 1 June 2021 and 31 May 2024. All submissions must have a clear historical theme and be of high literary standards.
The winner, Khir Johari’s The Food of the Singapore Malays: Gastronomic Travels Through the Archipelago, was lauded for examining the complexities of the Malay community in this island city-state through an examination of their cuisine. Johari’s tome, which took 14 years from conception to publication and weighs a hefty 3.2kg, beat five shortlisted works in a fiercely contested competition. It won the $50,000 prize money, the highest prize of any Singapore book award.
Other winners included Shubigi Rao’s self-published Cockman (2022), which won the best English comic or graphic novel category for its “total lack of seriousness and compromise” as well as its “over-the-top audacity and absurdity”, and writer Jeremy Tiang’s best English translation, Cocoon (2022), about two childhood friends who work through the night to put to bed dark secrets from their past. The prize also has three new categories: best English debut, best English translation and best English creative non-fiction.
At the awards ceremony, HRH The Duke of Cambridge congratulated the 2023 winners on their “tremendous impact”. He praised Singapore as a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship in Southeast Asia, and said that its leaders have shown great care for others. He added that he will visit the United for Wildlife summit to meet representatives of law enforcement agencies, conservation organisations and corporations fighting the illegal trade in wildlife products.
Singapore is a small but growing economy with a global reputation for efficiency, innovation and excellence in public service. The country is home to world-class universities and research centres, and has become a leader in financial services, biotechnology and the media industry.
At a gala dinner in the Ritz Carlton Millenia, HOFS Award 2023 recipients shared their stories of leadership and commitment to making the world a better place. Among the inspiring stories was one by Muhammad Dinie, an ITE student who helped lead a project to thank town council cleaners for their tireless work during the Covid-19 pandemic. The team compiled and distributed bags of groceries, grocery vouchers and thank-you cards to the cleaners at Ang Mo Kio estates.
