SINGAPORE (AP) — An Indian maker of solar-powered dryers, a soil carbon marketplace and groups that work to make electric car batteries cleaner, restore Andean forests and deter illegal fishing have won the Singapore prize, which honors green innovators. The winners were announced Tuesday during Earthshot Week in the city-state, a global gathering of scientists and business leaders working to repair the planet from climate change. Britain’s Prince William, whose royal foundation charity launched the award program in 2020, said at the ceremony that the solutions of all 15 finalists prove “that the light of hope does remain” even as climate change’s effects are felt globally.
The National University of Singapore’s department of history will manage the prize, which was set up in 2014 to celebrate Singapore’s 50th anniversary of independence. Kishore Mahbubani, an ex-Singapore diplomat and now a dean at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, sparked the idea in a newspaper column by asking for cash to be awarded to the best book on the nation’s history. Three months later, a newly minted Singapore citizen stepped forward with the offer to donate $500,000, which will be managed in an endowment fund by NUS.
This year’s prize reflects the importance of building a shared Singapore identity by shedding new light on understudied areas of Singaporean history, said Mahbubani, who chairs the prize jury panel. “We live in an Asian century, and it is important that we build a sense of common citizenship based on our shared history,” he said.
Among the six books shortlisted this year are Reviving Qixi: The Forgotten Seven Sisters Festival by Lynn Wong Yuqing and Lee Kok Leong, which explores Singapore’s Chinese heritage. Another, Theatres of Memory: Industrial Heritage of 20th Century Singapore by Loh Kah Seng, Alex Tan Tiong Hee, Koh Keng We and Kevin Blackburn, delves into the understudied area of labour and industrial history.
The winner of the prize, a medal that was designed by the National University of Singapore, will be formally presented in late 2023. A ceremony will be held at NUS’s campus, with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to attend.
The award is the first of its kind in the world, and is named after the father of the nation’s founder, who helped shape the country into a modern-day global powerhouse. It is intended to inspire Singaporeans and people around the world to achieve great things and make a difference. It is a joint initiative between NUS and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with support from the Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton Foundation. It was founded by Hennessy Louis Vuitton’s grandson, a former chairman of the luxury goods company, in tribute to his late father, who had an extensive collection of art and antiques. It will be awarded every three years to a person or organisation from Singapore and the world. Each winner will receive a cash prize of S$50,000. The medal, designed by NUS faculty member Rajeev Patke, features the Singapore flag.