The winner of the prestigious singapore prize receives $3,000 in cash and a trophy. The runner-up gets a cash award of $2,000. The prize is given in either Chinese, English or Malay and is Singapore’s second highest literary prize after the Epigram Books Fiction Prize, which has been suspended this year due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. The winner of the award is chosen by a panel of judges, including scholars and writers. The winner of the prize can publish a book in any language but must have at least a 20% Singapore element in the narrative. The prize was established in 2014 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Singapore’s independence.
The heir to the British throne arrived at Singapore’s Changi Airport Tuesday night for a visit that will include a meeting with local environmentalists and entrepreneurs who have ideas to address climate change. Prince William created the Earthshot Prize with his Royal Foundation charity in 2020 to encourage inventors to develop technologies that combat global warming and its effects.
He’s already met with the leaders of several companies in the field and will hear their pitches later this week. He’ll also meet with groups focusing on nature protection, clean air, ocean revival and waste elimination. His wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, stayed home in London to help their children prepare for exams.
The prince, who has visited Singapore with his family before, paused to admire the 40-meter high Rain Vortex at the airport, which was illuminated green for his arrival. He then was shown a tree planted in his honor at the base of the indoor waterfall.
During the two-day trip, the prince will also see Singapore’s famous Botanic Gardens and meet with environmentalists to learn about the country’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions. He’ll also tour the country and its satellite cities, which he has described as model examples of sustainable development.
In addition to the main prizes, there are five other categories — for architecture, film, literature, art and science. In the architecture category, this year’s top award went to Kampung Admiralty, a community project that transformed a former army barracks in the central Singapore district of Tiong Bahru. Previous winners of the prize have included a post-earthquake reconstruction project in China and an extension to the National Museum of Poland.
The prize is open to authors who have published a work in the past five years. There were 192 submissions this year, 32 fewer than the number in 2021. Of the 49 shortlisted titles, all but four are winners for the first time. They are alllkunilaa (Azhagunila), rma cureess (Rama Suresh), Jee Leong Koh, Suratman Markasan and Yeow Kai Chai. The nonagenarian Wang Gungwu, who will celebrate his 92nd birthday next month, is a winner for his book, Snow at 5PM: Translations of an Insignificant Japanese Poet. The Readers’ Favorite exercise returns this year, with the public able to vote online for their favorite shortlisted book in each of the four languages.