Singapore Prize 2024
The annual Singapore Prize is a prestigious award given to the best published work in any of Singapore’s four official languages—Chinese, English, Malay and Tamil. In this year’s competition, the biennial prize jury shortlisted 71 works across the four categories, including a new category for comics and graphic content. Five authors were shortlisted in two or more categories, including Clara Chow who is the first writer in the program’s history to be nominated in the English fiction and English creative nonfiction categories as well as the Chinese poetry category.
The NUS Singapore History Prize is a new initiative that marks the first-ever prize devoted exclusively to Singapore’s history. The 2024 shortlist includes works that eschew the conventional notion of history as a record of big-name movers and shakers. Instead, the shortlist includes histories that delve into the lives of ordinary people—like a book on the everyday life of an estate by Kamaladevi Aravindan and a memoir of growing up in a military camp by Tiang Yue-Ling.
Other works in the running include a book on the history of Singapore Malays, written by Khir Johari; and an exploration of the inter-linkages between humans and animals in a city environment, by Wesley Leon Aroozoo. NUS Press also has a history of a particular area of the city in its sights: Leluhur: Singapore’s Kampong Gelam, by Hidayah Amin, which reveals how the neighbourhood has changed over time.
In addition to a cash prize of $3,000, the winning creative and campaign will receive $1,000 worth of CHARLES & KEITH vouchers, exposure in our magazine’s digital and print platforms as well as a Vogue Singapore internship. The winner will also receive a complimentary one-year U30 membership at Mandala Club.
The finalists were selected based on the impact of their projects, their business models, as well as their feasibility and potential for growth. They will now be invited to join the Earthshot Week, a week-long programme of thought leadership and innovation hosted in Singapore this November, aimed at speeding up their solutions and bringing them into action to repair the planet.
During the event, participants will be introduced to key partners that can accelerate and scale their projects through funding, expertise, infrastructure, networks, partnerships, mentorships, and other resources. The finalists will also have the opportunity to interact with investors and business leaders from around the world as they share their ideas and innovations. This is a unique opportunity to bring together global and local influencers, leaders in the climate action movement and key players from Singapore’s diverse start-up scene.