The prize was conceived in response to a Straits Times column by NUS Asia Research Institute distinguished fellow Kishore Mahbubani in April, who called for the creation of a Singapore-specific award to honour our nation’s history. The prize will recognise non-fiction works that help define our national identity, increase public awareness of Singapore’s heritage and culture, and deepen the public’s understanding of its history.
It will be administered by the NUS Department of History, with a nomination committee and jury set up for the purpose. Prof Mahbubani, who will serve as the prize’s first chairman, said: “A famous American social scientist, Benedict Anderson, once said that nations are ‘imagined communities’. A shared imagination, especially in the past, is a critical glue holding societies together.”
The winner will receive an award certificate, a gold medallion and a cash prize of SGD 300,000 sponsored by Temasek Foundation, to be presented by the President of Singapore Tharman Shanmugaratnam at an awards ceremony during the upcoming Singapore International Water Week 2024. He will also deliver a keynote lecture on the theme of “Water: A New Era of Solutions” at the event.
Temasek and GenZero have signed up as partners of the prize, with a view to supporting the prize’s efforts in scaling innovative environmental solutions. Both companies believe that their resources, networks and expertise can help the prize realise its vision to be one of the world’s leading prize ecosystems for sustainable development.
NUS has also launched a Singapore History Prize in support of the SG50 programme. The NUS history department’s inaugural award in 2018 went to archaeologist John Miksic for his book Singapore And The Silk Road Of The Sea, 1300-1800. Prof Miksic’s work uncovered bits of historical information such as Chinese literary records that suggested that Singapore existed in the 13th century, as well as archaeological discoveries such as those at Fort Canning and the Empress Place.
The prize will recognise non-fiction works that are penned in English and published between Jan 1 this year and May 30 next year. A four-member jury panel will select the winner. The prize is accompanied by a minimum three-month overseas internship in China for the winners with leading technology companies and venture capital firms, courtesy of Enterprise Singapore’s Global Ready Talent programme. The winnings will also include entrepreneurship training from a top Singapore business school. For more details, click here. The awards ceremony will be broadcast live on Channel 5.