The NUS Singapore Prize for HistoryThe NUS Singapore Prize for History
The Prize recognises outstanding publications on the history of Singapore. It is open to non-fiction or fiction works that have a strong historical theme and address any time period, subject or field of Singapore’s history. The work must be book-length, either authored or co-authored.
The award aims to encourage the study of Singapore’s history and promote interest in it among the general public. The winner will receive a cash prize of S$50,000. The inaugural prize was awarded in 2018 to Professor John Miksic for his book, Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300-1800, which provides detailed archaeological evidence that shows how the city’s story began more than 700 years ago.
A distinguished Jury Panel led by Kishore Mahbubani, Distinguished Fellow at the NUS Asia Research Institute, will select and announce the winning publication towards the end of October 2024. The jury will include Mr Mahbubani; Emeritus Professor John Miksic of the NUS Department of Southeast Asian Studies; Prof Tan Tai Yong, President of the Singapore University of Social Sciences; Dr Peter A Coclanis, Director of the Global Research Institute, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; and economist Dr Lam San Ling.
It is often said that nations are ‘imagined communities’ and this shared imagination is a critical glue holding societies together. History is an essential ingredient of this imagination, as it is the shared past that gives us our identity and binds us to our common heritage. It is in this spirit that the NUS Singapore History Prize was created to honour a legacy of scholarship on Singapore’s past.
Across the shortlist, writers are foregoing the traditional view of history as a record of big movers and shakers, and instead offering up a range of personal accounts of ordinary people’s lives. For example, the book by Kamaladevi Aravindan about her family’s experience living in Sembawang, and Hidayah Amin’s Leluhur: Singapore’s Kampong Gelam are two examples of this trend.
The prize was established in memory of Christopher Bathurst KC, a senior member of Fountain Court Chambers and a renowned barrister specialising in commercial litigation, with a particular emphasis on the law of Asia, including Singapore. He was a formidable advocate and mentor who developed a substantial practice in Southeast Asia. This Prize aims to recognise the contribution of his writing to Singapore’s intellectual life. The NUS Singapore History Prize is funded by the National Arts Council. The winner will receive a cash prize and a commissioned trophy. The finalists will each receive book-purchase vouchers worth up to S$1,000. The public can vote on the NUS website until 31 July 2024. Read more about the prize here.