The Prince William Earthshot Prize Finalists
The heir to the British throne, Prince William, on Tuesday hailed 15 winners of his Earthshot prize — from Indian makers of solar dryers to a global non-profit marine programme — for proving that “hope does remain” amid environmental challenges. The glitzy ceremony at Singapore’s Media Corp theatre saw the heir to the British throne wear a dark green 10-year-old suit by eco-friendly designer Alexander McQueen as he feted the finalists for using innovation and technology to address issues such as food security, climate change and ocean pollution. He was joined by a host of celebrities, including Malaysian actor Yen and South African actress Mbatha. They were among the guests at the event, which was co-hosted by actors Hannah Waddingham and Sterling K. Brown and featured the bands One Republic and Bastille. The awards are backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has pledged S$5 million over three years to support the winners in their work.
History books with a personal slant have the edge over those with a strictly academic approach in this year’s shortlist for the NUS Singapore History Prize, which is being adjudicated by a four-member panel. The prize was launched in 2014 to mark the nation’s 50th anniversary and spur interest in Singapore’s tumultuous past. It was first mooted in an opinion column by NUS Asia Research Institute distinguished fellow Kishore Mahbubani in April 2014.
This year’s winner is Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300-1800, by American archaeologist John Miksic. The book, which was published in 2013, explores the discovery of a Chinese merchant shipwreck off Singapore that led to a fundamental reinterpretation of how and when Singapore began. It also shed light on a tangled question: where did the name of the country come from?
NUS historian and prize jury chairman Wang Gungwu said Prof Miksic’s work won because it demonstrates that “history is not just about the facts, but more about how people imagine their place in history”. It is the first time a work on Singapore’s pre-independence history has won the prize.
Other works in the shortlist include a memoir by former foreign minister and current senior adviser to the Lee Foundation Tan Sri Lee Suan, a novel about the tumultuous political period of the 1990s by National Institute of Education senior lecturer Anitha Devi Pillai, and a graphic novel about the roots of modern-day Malay cuisine by NUS Press author Khir Johari. The prize, which is administered by NUS’s Department of History, comes with a cash award of S$50,000.
Another of this week’s notable events was the 2023 Formula 1 season-opening race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, where Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton clinched his seventh win of the season to extend his lead over Ferrari’s Nico Rosberg. The race also marked the debut of the new-generation turbo-charged hybrid-powered cars that are replacing the aging 2.4-litre petrol engines. The race was the first time the new rules were tested under wet conditions in a Singapore F1 Grand Prix.