The Singapore prize is a literary award that celebrates the best works of fiction and non-fiction written by Singaporeans in English, Chinese, Malay or Tamil. The award is sponsored by the Singapore Book Council and is held biennially.
The winner of the singapore prize receives a cash prize of SGD1,000 and book vouchers worth SGD50 to be used in the council’s bookstore. It also comes with a chance for the winning writer to be featured in a public event and participate in a panel discussion about their work.
This year’s shortlist includes books that explore a variety of themes, including a novel that looks at the history of an estate in Singapore and another that looks at the politics of detention. Other titles include a historical research book that also offers a personal slant, and a memoir about the Singaporean writer Kwa Chong Guan.
Kampung Admiralty by WOHA wins Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize
The 104-unit Kampung Admiralty senior housing development by WOHA Architects has been named the 2018 Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize by the World Architecture Forum (WAF). The stacked 11-story buildings are divided into three strata — upper, middle and lower — and were designed to foster inter-generational bonding and encourage active aging.
It’s the latest in a string of community or public architecture projects to win the WAF title, with an extension to the National Museum in Szczecin, Poland, and a post-earthquake reconstruction project in China’s Yunnan province among the winners in previous years. It was designed to “reflect the spirit of a modern city, while also paying homage to its heritage,” the judges said.
Featuring a mix of public spaces, communal areas and gardens, Kampung Admiralty was built over two 11-story blocks to “encourage active aging and foster inter-generational bonding” by the designers. Its lower sections feature open-air leisure facilities such as gardens and terraces.
Singapore prize finalists are announced in August
The judges of the singapore prize have announced their finalists for this year’s competition. The jury has chosen six shortlisted books, which include works of historical research as well as novels and non-fiction that explore the history of Singapore.
One of the shortlisted books, Sembawang by Kamaladevi Aravindan, combines fiction with the history of an estate in Singapore to give a more holistic view of its past. The novel tells the story of ordinary Singaporeans in the midst of political upheavals in the 1960s.
It also explores a story that is often neglected in the history of the city-state: the influx of immigrants. The author says that this makes for a more realistic account of how the country came to be and what its people have experienced since it was first settled in 1819.
The jury cited the book as “a work that offers a fresh perspective on Singapore’s history, in both its public and private facets.”
Besides the prize, the winner also receives a $1 million donation from DBS Bank. The company has committed to match the Singapore National Paralympic Council’s contribution to the prize through its Athletes Achievement Awards.
