Singapore Prize celebrated an evening of firsts as it awarded female poetry poets for English verse and two double triumphs between Chinese and English fiction, along with its inaugural Readers’ Favourite award to an unpublished writer for her debut thriller Ponti. Ian McEwan read an excerpt and presented this award to Sharlene Wen-Ning Teo for this “remarkable first novel in the making.”

NUS historian Kishore Mahbubani’s biography of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, A Great Leader, won in the non-fiction category and was applauded by judges for its insightful analysis, thorough research and engaging storytelling.

Clara Chow, one of three authors to win all three categories since 1992 when these awards began, was honored with all three English fiction, creative nonfiction and Chinese poetry prizes for her collection of poems titled “Gaze Back.” These works deal with subjects ranging from menstruation to sexuality in an unconventional manner – and their name allude to Greek mythology’s Gorgon (female creature that turns men to stone).

Singapore’s top secondary-school students were recognized by Harvard Prize Book for their efforts in service of both their community and world – from creating art therapy programs for seniors to raising funds to support poor children. They received cash grants as well as prizes such as trips to Boston or New York City.

Muhammad Dinie of Institute of Technical Education College Central led a team from ITECCentral to visit town council cleaners around Ang Mo Kio and present them with food, groceries and thank-you cards; two National Junior College students worked at a hospital ward for patients recovering from tuberculosis; while a volunteer from an old folks’ home organised a concert specifically tailored toward dementia sufferers.

At an Earthshot Prize finalist announcement ceremony in Singapore that was attended by Britain’s Prince William, Cate Blanchett, Donnie Yen and Lana Condor were present as Celebrities such as Cate Blanchett, Donnie Yen and Lana Condor walked the green carpet in support of solutions ranging from solar-powered dryers to more sustainable electric car batteries. According to Prince William himself, these five winning ideas showed there remains hope despite climate change’s challenges.

At this year’s Singapore Prize competition, winners in fiction, non-fiction and poetry of Chinese, English, Malay and Tamil will compete for 12 top awards spanning fiction, non-fiction and poetry written in each official language of Singapore – Chinese, English, Malay and Tamil. A jury chaired by Distinguished Professor of Asian Research Dr Kishore Mahbubani of NUS was responsible for selecting these winners along with John Miksic from Department of Southeast Asian Studies as well as local and international scholars – something not offered previously when only one prize per official language existed for competition!