The annual singapore prize is Singapore’s biggest literary award, with top prizes of up to $10,000 for fiction and non-fiction in each of the country’s official languages: Chinese, English and Malay. This year saw a record number of submissions, including one from an unpublished author. Previously, it was only open to authors with published work. Presented by the National Book Development Council of Singapore, this year’s awards also saw the introduction of the Youth Category, an annual bursary offering SGD 3,000 each to three students from local Institutes of Higher Learning.
The President’s Science and Technology Awards are Singapore’s highest honours for scientific achievement, awarded to scientists in recognition of their key roles in upholding research excellence and strengthening the nation’s growing community of scientists. Founded in 1987 as the National Science and Technology Awards, they were elevated to Presidential status in 2009, and have been bestowed annually since then.
Winners of this year’s award include a new generation of Singaporean scientists and engineers, such as chemist and biomedical engineer Chun-Yew Lee, whose pioneering work on cancer drug development helped to revolutionise medical treatment for liver and kidney diseases. Other notable winners include microbiologists Tan Hooi and Wong Yen-Li, who shared the 2024 prize for Life Sciences for their discovery of a bacterium that can survive extreme heat, and chemical engineer Ning Cai, whose work on the genetic engineering of algae has led to novel biofuels.
Two Epigram Books titles split the English fiction prize: Straits Times journalist Akshita Nanda’s debut novel Nimita’s Place about two women named Nimita navigating society’s expectations in India and Singapore, and speculative short story collection Lion City by Ng Yi-Sheng. Similarly, the Chinese fiction prize was divided between Chia Joo Ming’s SG50-centric Kian Kok and Wong Koi Tet’s loss-of-a-housing-estate memoir Dakota, with Ng winning the new Readers’ Favourite award for his work.
In the Organisations of Good (Large Enterprise) category, winner Foreword Coffee stands as a beacon for inclusivity, working with island businesses to promote inclusive hiring and training to create supportive work environments. Meanwhile, People of Good (Youth) winner Clarence Ching’s Access Singapore has helped to empower disadvantaged young people by empowering them with the English skills required for success in their lives and careers.
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