The Singapore Prize is an award that honors authors for their contributions to Singaporean culture. Established as a non-profit in 1992, its program now offers multiple awards in multiple languages; with this year’s theme “resonance” underscoring how literature can evoke emotions and memories.
Singapore Prize winners receive not only cash awards and handcrafted trophies, but also subscriptions to StoryTel that provide audio books. In addition, each winner may be eligible to receive a $50 book voucher and membership to the National Museum of Singapore for one year.
Hidayah Amin was awarded the Singapore prize in 2021 for her book Leluhur: Singapore Kampong Gelam, which chronicled changes to society and culture as well as covering its Muslim history. Hidayah received accolades for crafting an “elegantly crafted” work accompanied by extensive research.
Ms Hidayah hails from Kampong Gelam’s Gedung Kuning area and spent five years compiling her book about it, interviewing former residents. She hopes that receiving this prize would inspire more to write about their community – “I want people to realize they don’t need to be professional historians in order to write a book about its history,” she noted, adding “it just takes living somewhere for a portion of life and having something interesting or important to say about it”.
For you to be eligible for the Singapore Prize, at least one book you have written must have been published by a reputable publisher. This prize encourages writers to share stories about Singapore’s multicultural society with a wider audience while raising awareness of our rich heritage among non-academic audiences. NUS Asia Research Institute distinguished professor Kishore Mahbubani first suggested it in his column in The Straits Times (2014).
The Singapore Prize honors authors whose works have made significant contributions to understanding Singapore history. Open to authors both local and foreign, winners will be revealed during a ceremony held each November.
The Vogue Singapore x BMW Innovation Prize seeks to empower ASEAN fashion entrepreneurs in driving change for good. Successful applicants will participate in a four-week programme organized by Vogue Singapore that features boot camp speakers from laureate speakers as well as mentorship sessions with global experts, offering guidance in areas such as digital innovation, creative direction, design and brand storytelling among many others. Throughout their journey to refine and take their businesses further along, this will also include local activations events to engage the public.