A prize launched in 2014 to spur interest and understanding of Singapore’s history is stepping up its efforts to reach a wider audience. In a partnership with Conservation International (CI), the prize will be able to leverage the organisation’s long history of working globally to spotlight and secure the benefits of nature for humanity. The prize will also be able to draw on CI’s vast network of partners committed to scalable and innovative solutions for people and the planet.
The NUS Singapore History Prize is administered by the Department of History at NUS and was founded to support scholarly work on the nation’s history. It was the first prize in Singapore devoted to the subject and was established to make the complexities of Singapore’s history more accessible to non-academic audiences, as well as to promote greater discussion on the role of the nation and its place in the world.
This year’s competition has seen a strong showing from NUS Press, with six works making the shortlist. Among them is a biography of an average family, which eschews the notion of history as a record of big movers and shakers. The list also includes a book about the roots of modern Singaporean Malay cuisine, written by food historian Khir Johari.
Other entries include the first history book to explore the impact of colonialism on Singapore’s Muslim communities, and a biography of the pioneering leftist movement in Malaysia. The list even features a memoir of the last Singaporean Communist Party leader, Lim Chin Siong, penned by his son.
One of the highlights of this year’s event is the presence of Prince William, who is set to travel to Singapore for the third annual Earthshot Prize awards. During his visit, the duke of Cambridge will meet with prize winners and their teams to discuss their innovation projects aimed at solving climate change.
Kishore Mahbubani, NUS Asia Research Institute distinguished fellow and prize jury chair, says that a shared imagination rooted in history is the glue that holds societies together. “The famous American social scientist Benedict Anderson once said that nations are ‘imagined communities’,” he says. “That’s why it’s important that we have the right kind of history to help us understand our past and our present.”