The prize honours individuals who put the public interest above their own and show selflessness in critical times. The winner will be awarded a trophy and S$25,000 in cash.
The inaugural Singapore Prize will recognize a leader who has made significant contributions to his or her community, nation or region. The award, which is supported by a S$10 million fund from Temasek Trust, will be presented by the Prime Minister at a special awards ceremony in June 2024.
A maker of solar-powered dryers, a soil carbon marketplace and groups that work to make electric car batteries cleaner and restore Andean forests were among those who won this year’s Earthshot Prize at a ceremony in Singapore. Britain’s Prince William, whose Royal Foundation charity launched the 10-year award program in 2020, said the solutions presented by the 15 finalists showed “hope does remain” even as climate change wreaks havoc around the world.
At a gala dinner at the InterContinental Singapore, the prize winners received their certificates and trophies from the Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. In his address, Lee lauded the winners for their hard work and dedication to their respective fields. “A healthy civil society requires people who are committed to their communities, who at pivotal moments, will put the common good before their own interests,” he said. “Tonight’s winners are testaments to such courage, compassion and leadership.”
In the TOTO game, players place a bet on one of nine numbers to win a prize. The odds of winning the top prize of $2.3 million are one in eleven, but there is no limit to how many times a player can try their luck. The first version of the game was launched in 1968, but its prize structure was revamped in 1981 to allow it to snowball if there were no wins and to introduce a System Entry option. The prize amounts also increased from a minimum guaranteed sum to its current amount, and the game switched to a ‘5-out-of-49’ format in 1998.
This year’s NUS Singapore History Prize, which was inaugurated in 2014 following an endowed gift from a donor, was awarded to Prof Miksic for his book. The prize aims to recognise exemplary works on the history of Singapore and Southeast Asia, whether they focus on a particular area or are general in nature. Previously, only English-language books were eligible for the prize, but this year it was extended to include translations. Authors of the shortlisted entries were alllkunila (Azhagunila), innnpaa (Inbha) and Jee Leong Koh.