Khir Johari’s 14-year project took 14 years from conception to completion before winning the triennial Singapore Prize awarded by National University of Singapore Department of History. Mr Johari was selected over five shortlisted publications to win a cash prize of $50k; winning it takes some beating!
In 2014, to commemorate Singapore’s 50th anniversary of independence, The Prize was established. Administered by the NUS Department of History, its goal is to bring important topics in Singapore history into public view through accessible works written or translated into English; both fiction and non-fiction works with an obvious historical theme were eligible to submit works, provided their author(s) or co-authors reside in Singapore as well as having been born, educated or trained there.
Publishers submitted 26 books this year for consideration for the NUS Singapore History Prize Jury Panel’s consideration, of which four made it as finalists. Of these 26 titles submitted for consideration were chosen as shortlisted by Professor Kishore Mahbubani to form his shortlisted six. Other panel members include academics from NUS Department of History as well as arts and literary figures, curators, historians/teachers and history practitioners – forming quite an eclectic panel!
The Jury Panel recognized two books as worthy of special commendation and acknowledgement: Lynn Wong Yuqing and Lee Kok Leong’s book Reviving Qixi: Singapore’s Forgotten Seven Sisters Festival provided a new view on an ancient Chinese festival while Loh Kah Seng, Alex Tan Tiong Hee, Koh Keng We, and Juria Toramae’s Theatres of Memory: Industrial Heritage of 20th Century Singapore explored understudied aspects of Singaporean industrial and labor history.
Sports Minister Lim Boon Heng announced the winners of the MAP awards on Wednesday in Parliament. Kitefoiler Maximilian Maeder, swimmer Yip Pin Xiu and boccia player Jeralyn Tan all earned individual S$500,000 awards for winning gold medals at Paris Olympics while all three shared S$1 million as Paralympic Games winners. Each athlete contributed some portion of their MAP award back to their National Sports Associations to support future training and development programs.
In 1968, newly independent Singapore established the TOTO Lottery Game as part of its democratic principles. The name TOTO, composed from “Totalisator” and “Lotto”, stemmed from its founders’ belief that an individual shouldn’t be defined solely by wealth or social status but by how they lived their lives. Over time, TOTO evolved, with Snowballing capabilities being introduced in 1981, followed by System Entry options being made available in 1997.
The Ministry of Culture and Arts (MCAS), then known as Singapore Olympic and Sports Council (SOSC), first inaugurated the MAP awards in April 1967 to honour Singaporean Olympians, acknowledge their hard work, promote physical health and strength among athletes as a way of nation building. Othman Wok was certain that these awards would encourage athletes to reach higher standards of performance and achievements.