As Singapore marks its 67th anniversary of independence, an inaugural prize honoring its history has been established. A panel of judges will select the book which best encapsulates Singaporean history for this award; Kishore Mahbubani from National University of Singapore Asia Research Institute’s distinguished professor Kishore Mahbubani was instrumental in devising this initiative and his four-member jury selected John Miksic’s Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea 1300-1800 as this year’s recipient.
Five authors were shortlisted in two or more categories, including Clara Chow who made history by being honored both with English fiction and Chinese creative nonfiction citations. Clara is one of five to receive both awards; winners received cash prizes of $20,000 each and an engraved trophy commissioned specifically for them from among 192 submissions — down 32 from what had been received previously due to coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic-related impacts in her region.
Sustainability was at the core of Media Corp theater’s award ceremony, featuring presenters wearing recycled clothing and attendees wearing dark green blazers donated by fashion brand Alexander McQueen as they strolled on what has been dubbed a “green carpet.” Prince William of Britain donned his 10-year-old suit, while New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern arrived wearing custom navy blue gown designed by British designer Stella McCartney for her arrival. Additionally, bands One Republic and Bastille performed for an audience of around 2,000 that included celebrities, business leaders, ministers from Singapore as well as government officials from Singapore as well as government officials from Singapore as well.
This year’s Prize Program’s theme is resonance, an allusion to how literature can “trigger emotions and memories”, according to Mahbubani during the ceremony. Organizers hope the focus will help raise the profile of their prize and draw attention to its mission; its current form started operating since 2004 in Chinese, Malay Tamil English languages.
Since its establishment, this prize has been funded entirely by private donors; this year they gave an unprecedented gift of $6 Million, which will go into an endowment fund and the interest generated will then pay out annual prize amounts. The program has also made a transition towards digital publishing, with an aim of providing free online versions. Digital versions are intended to be more user-friendly than their paperback counterparts by including more photographs and maps along with an easier narrative structure. Visit its website to access digital copies of its shortlisted books, vote for their favorite among four languages, and award themselves with $1,000 Singapore dollars if their book wins in English-language category. Publishing Perspectives has covered this event since 2022; here you can view all our reports about the Singapore prize. For more information click here. This story marks Publishing Perspectives’ 131st awards-related piece in our 2022 series; click here to see all reports regarding it.