The Singapore Historical Publications Prize, established as part of SG50 to commemorate 50 years of independence, was first introduced in 2014. Administered by NUS Department of History, it honours an exceptional publication that has had an impactful contribution towards understanding Singaporean history – either directly or through including it within larger narratives. Open to works written in English that cover any time period, theme, field or facet related to Singapore’s past – or include such material as part of larger narratives.
Kishore Mahbubani, chairman of the five-person jury panel and former diplomat, stated that Singapore’s biggest challenge in the 21st century is not economic but rather creating a sense of national identity through knowledge of history. Additionally, he suggested expanding this prize in future to encompass other forms of history storytelling such as movies or comics which may better convey historical themes than written books.
Prince William joined Oscar winner Cate Blanchett, actor Donnie Yen and Lana Condor and other celebrities at the third Earthshot Prize ceremony in Asia to unveil winners of this year’s Earthshot Prizes. At this ceremony – held by Earthshot Prize finalists who showcased solutions such as solar dryers to reduce food waste or making electric car batteries more energy-efficient – hope still remains against climate change, according to Prince William.
The 2024 Prize was open to books written or translated in English that were either sole-authored or co-authored, and focused on any time period, theme, field, or aspect of Singaporean history or included a significant aspect as part of an overall story focusing on Singapore’s past. These could include novels, biographies or any genre that examined any significant aspect of it between 1 June 2021 and 31 May 2024 and were significant enough in size and merit to make a significant contribution toward understanding Singaporean history.
The 2024 Singapore Global Publishing Prize will be judged by an illustrious panel of judges from both Singapore and abroad, such as Esplanade Communications and Content Head Clarissa Oon for English creative non-fiction; Cultural Medallion recipient KTM Iqbal for Malay poetry; and Dr Sa’eda Buang of the Asian Languages and Cultures Academic Group Dr Sa’eda Buang for Malaysian fiction. Winners will each be awarded S$50,000 while runners-ups receive S$10 000 each; Nanyang Foundation sponsored this Prize which can be found by visiting http://sgpprize.org for more details.
