The Singapore prize is a biennial award to recognise outstanding published works in the country’s four official languages – English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. In 2024, 71 works were shortlisted across 18 categories. The winner of each category will receive a cash prize of S$25,000, a certificate and a gold medallion. This year, a writer from the island of Singapore became the first in the prize’s history to be nominated in three categories and two languages. Clara Chow is shortlisted in both English fiction and Chinese poetry.
The heir to the British throne, Prince William, will travel to Singapore this week to promote his Earthshot Prize, which he and his Royal Foundation charity launched in 2020 to find solutions to help repair our planet. The prince will meet Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loon and call on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam during his visit, which also includes a visit to the Istana palace, one of Singapore’s oldest heritage sites.
On the design front, the 10th edition of the World Architecture Festival (WAF) and Inside will showcase a range of international proposals that embrace cutting-edge design to address major world issues, from tackling the climate emergency to building community resilience. This year, the event will feature a new category called WAFX that celebrates projects with an impact beyond mere aesthetics. A panel of renowned designers and architects will be on hand to evaluate the entries. The jury is led by Kelley Cheng, Sanjay Puri and Mariana Simas and features leading figures from the world of interior design including Emre Arolat, Mario Cucinella and Ian Ritchie.
In the non-fiction category, Jeremy Tiang’s State Of Emergency (2017, available here) takes a personal approach to Singapore’s history in the 1950s when its future seemed “up for grabs”. Hidayah Amin’s Leluhur: Stories of Kampong Glam (2019, available here) sheds light on a heritage royal building in the city centre that many now only see as a tourist attraction, while Home Is Where We Are (2019, available here) chronicles the story of a couple that ran one of Asia’s most successful lotteries.
NUS’ Kishore Mahbubani, senior advisor (university and global relations), said there are plans to expand the types of works that can qualify for the Singapore prize. Using the movie 12 Years A Slave as an example, he explained that sometimes historical events are more effectively conveyed through creative works such as books and movies. “We may look at other formats, including comics and other forms of storytelling,” he added. “It is a matter of making the prize more relevant to contemporary society.” This article was originally published on the beIN Sports website. To read more stories from beIN Sports, click here.
