NUS History’s Singapore Prize, established in 2014, sought to increase interest and comprehension of Singaporean history while making its complexities accessible for non-academic audiences. Open to works published in English, Mandarin or Tamil with a clear focus on Singapore history, this prize was open for submissions that fulfilled these criteria.
Archaeologist John Miksic’s 491-page tome, Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300-1800 won this inaugural prize from NUS worth $50k and provided the basis for fundamentally reassessing Singapore’s position within Southeast Asia.
Kishore Mahbubani of the NUS East Asian Institute and creator of this prize has proposed it in his Straits Times column, with great success. According to him, social scientist Benedict Anderson once stated that nations are imagined communities, with shared histories providing an integral element in keeping societies together. As Mahbubani stated: ‘the prize’s purpose is to help individuals realize they’re part of something much bigger.'”
Although some shortlisted books on this year’s list explore Singapore in depth, others take an in-depth look at modern Singapore life. Kamaladevi Aravindan’s novel Sembawang (2020; available here) takes this approach by chronicling an estate across decades – moving away from traditional approaches that focus on history’s “big names”, instead examining daily experiences from common folk instead.
Other works on the list include Seven Hundred Years: A History of Singapore by historians Kwa Chong Guan, Tan Tai Yong, Peter Borschberg and Derek Heng (2019, available here); and Imperial Creatures: Animals and Humans in Colonial Singapore by Timothy P. Barnard (2019, available here). A winner will be announced in October.
Temasek Foundation will award this prize every two years; previous recipients include historian Christopher Bathurst KC, Viscount Bledisloe and author/journalist Mark Manson.
This Prize was established to honour Christopher Bathurst KC, Viscount Bledisloe – the founding Chairman of Singapore Government Economic Development Board – and honour his outstanding contributions through literature to Singapore public service. Since 2007, The Singapore Literary Prize has become one of Singapore’s premier literary awards, honouring winners with an award certificate, medallion and cash prize of SGD 300,000. Runner-ups receive an honourable mention. This prize will be judged by an esteemed panel consisting of historians, writers and literary figures. Nominations for this prize can be submitted between June 2021 and May 31/2024 by residents or citizens of Singapore. The judging committee will evaluate each work according to scholarship and relevance for Singapore history and culture. A winning book should effectively convey all of Singapore’s rich history while making it more approachable for non-academic audiences. A shortlist will be announced in July.