After holding successful inaugural Earthshot Prize awards ceremonies in London and Boston, the third annual Earthshot Prize awards returned to Asia on Tuesday night for a ceremony in Singapore. Britain’s Prince William, who chairs the award program, commended all 15 finalists’ solutions that ranged from solar dryers and soil carbon marketplaces to making electric car batteries cleaner and strengthening marine enforcement against illegal fishing – showing “that hope does burn bright”.
Sustainability was at the core of this year’s presenters walk on a green carpet, featuring Cate Blanchett who donned an old dark green blazer from her wardrobe; Lana Condor, Robert Irwin and Nomzamo Mbatha also donned eco-friendly clothes while Donnie Yen donned an old navy blue suit; Hannah Waddingham and Sterling K Brown each wore dresses by sustainable fashion brand McCartney while the evening’s musical entertainment came from Bastille, OneRepublic and Bebe Rexha respectively.
Suratman Markesan of Malay was honored for Honing the Pen, Volume 2, while English nonfiction author Wang Gungwu’s Home Is Where We Are Going was recognized in English – both are 91 years old, making them two of the oldest winners ever! Additionally, Rama Suresh from Tamil fiction won both categories as well as becoming the inaugural author to win both readers’ favorites awards.
This year’s competition drew an impressive record number of entries, and judges were amazed to discover so many finalists were exploring climate change’s effect on communities. Additionally, judges noted with satisfaction the strong showing by Asian writers – three even from outside their region!
The NUS Singapore History Prize was initiated in 2014 and administered by the Department of History within NUS’ Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. This initiative seeks to broaden definitions of what constitutes history by inviting submissions that cover an array of perspectives and themes related to Singapore’s past from new as well as established authors.
The premium prize amount remains $200,000; however, chances of winning it have decreased to one out of eleven; you can check your odds here. NUS will donate all prize money received to charity selected by their judging panel. Each winner of the NUS Singapore History Prize receives an attractive commissioned trophy and book-purchase voucher from StoryTel in addition to prize money. This annual contest will open for submissions again in 2024, so stay tuned! You can learn more here. Established in 1969, Singapore Pools contributed over $14.5 million towards the building of Singapore’s inaugural National Stadium through sales of Singapore Sweep tickets – each one sold for just one dollar! Today, Singapore Pools stands as Asia’s leading land-based lottery operator. Product and services provided by William Hill include online sports betting, casino gaming, horse racing and other forms of horse racing betting as well as Keno games. With presences in Australia, Cambodia, Hong Kong and Singapore as well as listings on both Stock Exchange of Singapore and London Stock Exchange; William Hill offers its services across all of these categories of games.
