A Singaporean author of a book about the city’s ancient artefacts has won a prestigious award in a competition that also saw a local comic book win international praise. Professor John Miksic’s Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300-1800 was picked as this year’s winner of the Singapore prize for history books. Presented by the National University of Singapore (NUS), the book is the first of its kind to present detailed archaeological evidence that Singapore’s story began more than 700 years ago.
The book is published by NUS Press and retails at S$58. Prof Miksic was unable to attend the prize ceremony due to other commitments, but sent a message via email that said: “The award is especially significant for me because I started my archaeological career in the mid-1980s in Singapore. Since then, I have led or participated in more than 20 excavation projects. Many of them have taken place in Fort Canning, and the prize recognises the importance of those excavations.”
Other shortlisted books were Leluhur: Singapore’s Kampong Gelam by Hidayah Amin; Theatres of Memory: Industrial Heritage of 20th Century Singapore by Alex Tan Tiong Hee, Koh Keng We, and others (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2021) and Lynn Wong Yuqing and Lee Kok Leong, Reviving Qixi: Singapore’s Forgotten Seven Sisters Festival (Singapore: Renforest Publishing, 2022). The public can vote for their favourite among the six publications by filling out ballot forms at any Singapore Pools outlet till October 2 for the People’s Choice Award.
Britain’s Prince William, the philanthropist who launched the Earthshot prize, said at the award ceremony on Tuesday that the solutions presented by the winners and finalists demonstrate that “hope does remain” as climate change continues to cause devastating problems. The prizes were presented by the NUS Singapore Prize Jury Panel, chaired by Kishore Mahbubani.
The NUS Singapore Prize was set up in 2014 as part of the SG50 commemorations to mark the 50th anniversary of Singapore’s independence. It honours books that have made a lasting impact on our understanding of Singapore’s history and is awarded triennially. The prize was created to complement the national SG50 programme, which sought to foster a stronger sense of Singaporean identity by encouraging citizens to explore and reflect on our shared past. The prize is administered by the Department of History at NUS. It is a monetary award of S$50,000, with runners-up receiving S$20,000 each. The prize is open to local and foreign authors. A distinguished Jury Panel, consisting of eminent historians and academics, selects the winning work from submissions received from publishers. In the future, the jury may consider expanding the prize to include fictional works such as movies and comics. For more information, visit the NUS Singapore Prize website.
