Singapore Prize 2021
The Singapore prize is an award that recognizes outstanding published works by Singaporean authors in any of the four official languages – Chinese, English, Malay, and Tamil. It is presented annually by the National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS). The prize was first introduced in 1998 and it has since grown into an established and prestigious literary accolade. It was formerly split into separate awards for fiction and non-fiction, but in 2023 it was renamed to the Singapore Literature Prize and expanded to include categories for both fiction and non-fiction. The winners of the prize are announced at a gala ceremony held in the National Museum of Singapore. The winner is awarded a cash prize of S$25,000.
In the latest edition of the SG50 Book Prize, the winning work is the novel The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye by Sonny Liew. This novel explores the history of Singapore through a graphic style, and has won several prestigious Eisner awards – the Oscars of the comics world. The work has also been translated into multiple languages.
NUS History Prize 2021
The NUS History Prize, administered by the university’s Department of History, has released its shortlist for the second time. The six books vying for the $50,000 prize aim to “stimulate engagement with Singapore’s history broadly understood, make the nuances of history more accessible”, and help to generate a common identity among Singaporeans. The prize was mooted by NUS Asia Research Institute distinguished fellow Kishore Mahbubani.
A winner will be selected by a panel of judges from the field of architecture, design, and interior design. The judges will consider each entry’s ability to address a particular theme, as well as its overall aesthetic, functionality, and sustainability. The judges will also look at how the project has influenced the surrounding area, and how it will influence future developments.
In a move to foster safer online interactions worldwide, AI Singapore has launched the Online Safety Prize Challenge, a 10-week competition that seeks to advance AI research in developing multimodal, multilingual, and zero-shot models that can distinguish between benign and harmful memes. The prize, which is being jointly funded by the Ministry of Culture and the National Research Foundation, will be rewarded to a team that can build a model that is applicable to the diverse, nuanced, and complex digital landscape of Singapore.
SG50 Prize 2023
The inaugural Singapore 50 Prize was awarded to 50 leading local businesses at the SG50 Gala Dinner on September 30, 2023 at Ritz Carlton-Millenia. The event brought together influential individuals from various niche sectors, who have raised the standards in their respective industries through creativity. This year’s prizes have been increased to celebrate the milestone anniversary of Singapore’s 50th birthday. The prizes were presented by Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Singapore’s Ambassador to Thailand, Ms Panalee Choochuan.