The winners of the Singapore Prize, a biennial award that recognises home-grown brands that have gone above and beyond in establishing their brand reputation, were announced on Wednesday (Oct 25). The Promising Brands category, for example, saw healthcare company StarMed Specialist Centre win, along with construction firm Craftwork and co-living provider Coliwoo.
The winner of the Leading Brands category, meanwhile, was suicide-prevention agency Samaritans of Singapore. Other winners included agribusiness firm NTUC AgroFarm, food delivery service Deliveroo, and online fashion platform Lyst. These winners were lauded for their ability to stand out amongst the competition and attract a loyal following, and are set to become the country’s next generation of iconic brands.
Britain’s Prince William was greeted by adoring fans in Singapore as he arrived for the third annual Earthshot Prize awards ceremony, held in conjunction with the glitzy RED CAT gala. He walked the green carpet alongside celebrities including actors Donnie Yen, Lana Condor and Nomzano Mbatha, as well as Australian wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin. The prince, who launched the 10-year award programme, said the solutions presented by the 15 finalists showed “hope does remain” amid the world’s climate change crisis.
In line with the sustainability theme, the royal wore an old suit by designer Alexander McQueen for his walk down the red carpet. Other celebs wore eco-friendly outfits, with Mbatha opting for a navy blue dress by Stella McCartney — who recently launched her first store in the city.
Aside from the awards, the gala also featured performances by US singer Bebe Rexha and the bands One Republic and Bastille. Various local government officials and ministers were also present to show their support for the winners.
The NUS History Prize was created in 2014, with an anonymous donor providing an endowment to fund it. It is open to non-fiction works in English that focus on a topic related to Singapore’s history. Past winners have included archaeologist John Miksic, whose book on Singapore’s Kampong Gelam was nominated for the British Society for the History of Science Hughes Prize. This year’s shortlist includes works with a more personal slant, such as Tiang’s Imperial Creatures, which explores the relationship between humans and animals in colonial Singapore, and Leluhur: Singapore’s Kampong Glam (2019, available here), by Hidayah Amin.
The NUS History Prize 2024 will be judged by an independent Jury Panel, led by Professor Mahbubani and comprising academics from the Department of History at NUS, arts and literary figures, historians and curators, history teachers and curriculum developers, and Singapore community members. The finalists will be invited to submit their books for consideration by the Jury Panel, and the winning work will be announced in May.