In the world of art, prizes and awards are awarded to people who have achieved a certain level of success. These can be anything from a trophy to a medal or a state decoration. Some of these awards are given by government bodies while others are privately organised and sponsored. There are even some that are sponsored by celebrities. These awards can be a great way to get recognition for your work.
The Singapore Prize is a biennial award presented to authors for outstanding published works in Chinese, English or Malay. The winner of the prize receives a cash prize of $3,000 and an engraved trophy. It is considered to be one of the top literary awards in Singapore, with a similar status to the Epigram Books Fiction Prize, which previously served as its highest prize.
This year’s prize ceremony will be accompanied by a series of events as part of Earthshot Week, a new initiative that will see global leaders, businesses and investors convene in Singapore to explore opportunities with the winners and finalists. In addition, there will also be local activations to engage the public in the theme of repairing the planet.
The NUS Singapore History Prize was established in 2014 by an anonymous donor, and is administered by the Department of History at NUS. The prize is open to works from around the world that make a significant contribution to understanding Singapore’s history, whether in terms of period covered, theme or field. The prize is intended to encourage interest in, and discussion about, Singapore’s unique and complex history among a wider audience, and to promote greater awareness of Singapore’s place in the world.
A total of 118 entries were received for the 2023 award, which will be announced in June. The winning book will be selected by a prize panel consisting of historians and members of the public, chaired by Professor Mahbubani. The shortlisted works will be publicly announced and featured on the program website.
In this round of consumer voting, the four winning titles—Ali bin Salim’s The Accidental Malay, Daryl Qilin Yam’s Dearest Intimate, Pan Zheng Lei’s rmaa cureess and Eva Wong Nava’s The House of Little Sisters—received a combined total of almost 14,000 votes. They will be featured on the program’s website and in the magazine.
Meanwhile, the jury special mention and audience choice awards were handed out during this year’s awards event. Zukhara Sansyzbay took the best performance award with her role in “Convenience Store.” Sorayos Prapapan’s doc “Arnold is a Model Student” earned a special mention, while Marusya Syroechkovskaya won the audience choice award for her short film. The festival’s short film category also included a special award for best Asian short, which will be honoured later.