The Department of History at NUS is calling for submissions for the 2027 Singapore History Prize. The award, set up in 2014 on a generous endowment by an anonymous donor, is awarded to fiction and non-fiction books that spur interest in Singapore’s history. The 2027 edition will also recognise a work of art or multimedia that engages deeply with Singapore’s history under the new Arts and Multimedia category.
The 2022 STAR in Action Awards recognises a person who, over a sustained period, has gone beyond his or her call of duty to do something extraordinary for others and may have inspired other people to do the same. This includes selfless acts of kindness and caring, which are not motivated by a desire for recognition or reward. This year’s winners include a doctor who has made it his mission to help patients in need, and a social enterprise that promotes virtual experiential learning for youths.
Former diplomat Kishore Mahbubani, who chairs the five-member panel and helped set up the prize in 2014, said in a media conference that the biggest challenge for Singapore in the future is not economic but developing a strong sense of national identity with a shared history. “With a sense of shared heritage, we can build a better future for ourselves and our children,” he added.
The Singapore Book Prize 2022 saw a total of 59 titles in the running, and the final list was announced this week. This year, there were two runners-up in the Non-Fiction category, and a winner in the Malay Language section. The Malay Language winner, veteran writer Peter Augustine Goh’s “Gaze Back: Poems of Gender and Linguistic Reclamation”, is a powerful call for the reclaiming of language in Singapore. The book’s judges described it as a book that is unlike any other poetry title this year.
In the Arts and Multimedia category, the finalists were a satirical look at the Singapore Government’s plans to develop a new downtown area, and a multimedia tracing the lives of the sex workers who live in them. The organiser, the Singapore Book Council, has said that both works will be published in full this year.
In other awards news, a local apple brand was named the Singapore’s Most Loved Product at this week’s Entrepreneur 50 awards. The win marked a remarkable turnaround for Candine, which was founded by the French cooperative Blue Whale in 2013. This year marks the second time that it has won this accolade, having previously won the award last year. The winning products are voted by the public online. The list was compiled by a team from consultancy firm Treetz and was unveiled on Wednesday. The top 10 companies will receive a trophy and cash prizes of up to $3 million each. The full list of winners can be found here.