The winners of the 2024 Singapore Prize were announced this evening at a gala event held in partnership with the global sustainability organization Conservation International (CI). The prize was launched in 2020 as part of Prince William’s Earthshot Initiative to spotlight innovation and impact. CI will support the prize’s efforts by tapping into its long history of work in Southeast Asia to highlight cutting-edge solutions and connect them to partners committed to delivering on a sustainable future for people and nature.
A total of 26 books were submitted for this year’s award. Of these, the quality led judges to give, for the first time, two special commendations without a cash prize: Reviving Qixi: Singapore’s Forgotten Seven Sisters Festival by Lynn Wong Yuqing and Lee Kok Leong; and Theatres of Memory: Industrial Heritage of 20th Century Singapore by Loh Kah Seng, Alex Tan Tiong Hee, Koh Keng We, Tan Teng Phee, and Juria Toramae.
This year’s competition is themed on resonance, with a particular focus on literature’s ability to stir emotions and memories. It is the most diverse contest in its 30-year history, with authors shortlisted across five categories in four languages. Five writers were shortlisted for their first time: Clara Chow in English fiction and Chinese poetry, Daryl Qilin Yam in Malay nonfiction, Pan Zheng Lei in Chinese, rmaa cureess in Tamil and the readers’ favorite, and Yong Shu Hoong in English poetry.
As part of the prize, the winning books will be promoted globally by CI and its partner organizations to help them reach wider audiences. The winners will also be supported by a grant from CI to help them scale up their projects. The full list of the winning titles can be found here.
For the first time, this year’s prize was endorsed by Conservation International (CI), which will help to elevate the winners and their projects in the context of global climate change. CI’s global network and deep expertise in biodiversity will be critical in helping the prize to shine a spotlight on innovative solutions and drive them towards impact at scale.
NUS’ Senior Advisor (University and Global Relations) Kishore Mahbubani also revealed that there may be plans to expand the type of works that can qualify for the Singapore History Prize in the future. Taking the example of the movie 12 Years A Slave, he said that the award could also be expanded to include fictional works on different mediums. This would ensure that citizens develop a better understanding of their own history. “The most important thing is that people understand what their history is about,” he added. “That is what makes a country strong.”