A new prize to recognise individuals who make a difference in their communities has been launched by the government. The S$10,000 Singapore prize will be given to people who have done “extraordinary work in the fields of arts and letters, sports, science, business, the professions and the labour movement”.
Earlier this month, Britain’s Prince William joined celebrities like Cate Blanchett and Donnie Yen at the Earthshot prizes ceremony in Singapore to honour innovations tackling climate change. The winners ranged from solar-powered dryers that fight food waste to making electric car batteries cleaner, with all 15 finalists demonstrating “hope still exists” as the world faces catastrophic pollution.
In a move to boost philanthropy in the digital age, the Singapore government launched an online platform where anyone can contribute to the Singapore Prize fund. The platform allows anyone to contribute a minimum of S$1 through their personal bank accounts or credit cards. The money will be deposited into an endowment fund, with the interest being used to award the winner each year. The government hopes the platform will help inspire a new generation of philanthropists.
The winner of the first ever Singapore Prize will be announced later this year. The S$50,000 award is aimed at rewarding an outstanding publication that makes a significant impact on the public’s understanding of Singapore’s history. The prize is administered by the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) department of history and is awarded every three years.
This year, six compelling works are in the running for the prize – including a book on life in an average family that eschews the notion of history as a record of big movers and shakers. Other works explore the lives of a squatter community, the Singaporean civil war, and the development of a Singapore suburb.
Launched in 2014 in support of the SG50 programmes to celebrate the Republic’s five decades of independence, the Singapore Prize is the first to be devoted exclusively to Singapore’s history. Archaeologist John Miksic, whose book Singapore and its Silk Road of the Sea, 1300-1800, won the inaugural prize after being chosen by a four-member jury.
The prize has also expanded to include multimedia works such as films and comic books in the past. Professor Kishore Mahbubani, senior advisor for university and global relations at NUS, told reporters that there may be plans to expand the category of eligible works in future, saying history can sometimes be communicated more effectively through different mediums. He cited the movie 12 Years a Slave as an example. “If you can tell a good story in an engaging way, it can be as powerful as the book,” he said.