For the first time since 2018, a prize ceremony to celebrate Singapore’s best writers returned to Victoria Theatre this year. This year’s winners include alllkunilaa (Azhagunila), innnpaa (Inbha) and Jee Leong Koh, who clinched the award for their work Snow at 5pm: Translations of an Insignificant Japanese Poet. Nonagenarian Wang Gungwu, who celebrates his 92nd birthday next month, and Tamil writer rmaa cureess (Rama Suresh) were also among the winners in the English categories.
This year’s ceremony marked a return to the normality of the Singapore Prize awards, which had been cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2018. The winners were presented in person, and the ceremony was hosted by actress Hannah Waddingham. The five winners of the Earthshot Prize, which was launched in 2020 by Britain’s Prince William, were given a catalytic PS1 million award to help them scale their environmental solutions.
The prize ceremony also saw the launch of the new NUS Singapore History Prize. This was established in 2014 after an endowed gift from a donor. The prize is administered by the Department of History at NUS and casts a wide net in terms of the genres of works considered, in order to encourage reading and learning about Singapore’s rich and diverse history.
Prof Miksic said that the 2021 NUS Singapore History Prize winner, Lelu’s book on Singapore’s political landscape and the way it changed over time, showed that a “history book doesn’t need to be written by a professional historian. Anyone who has lived through a proportion of their life in Singapore can write a history book.”
During the launch, Singapore Pools CEO Loh Wee Phong called the prizes an “important recognition of the many contributions made by the public and businesses to ensure that our nation continued to function during the COVID-19 pandemic”. He added that it was important for people to be reminded that the country has come through this difficult period with resilience and strength.
NUS Singapore History Prize 2024
The NUS Singapore History Prize is an annual award that recognises exemplary books on any aspect of the history of Singapore and Southeast Asia, whether it is a general study of Singapore or a specific focus. It is open to creators of any nationality who have written in English. The Prize is a joint initiative of NUS and Singapore’s National Heritage Board.
The 2023 winners of the WAFX Singapore Design Awards were announced at a gala dinner held in conjunction with this year’s World Architecture Festival (WAF). The awards recognise innovative projects that push the boundaries of design, as well as designers who have excelled in their profession.
Neo4j, an open source graph data platform that helps businesses unlock the value of their big data, was named the Most Innovative Graph Data Platform 2022. The accolade was voted by an international panel of judges from Google, Microsoft and IBM. Other winners included a cyber security company, an interior design firm and a food delivery service.