The Singapore prize is a triennial award for books that deal with Singapore’s history. It is an attempt to stimulate engagement with the complexities and nuances of Singapore’s history. It also aims to make Singapore’s history more accessible to non-academic audiences, and casts a wide net for works that address history in any way, whether it is pre-1819 or about Singapore’s place in the world.

The winner of this year’s NUS Singapore Literature Prize is a book called Nine Yard Sarees by author Prasanthi Ram. This short story cycle, which spans several generations of a Tamil Brahmin family dispersed across Singapore, Sydney, and New York City, explores the impact of globalisation on families, the challenges of migration, and the repercussions of colonisation.

In another first for the prize, Marylyn Tan is the first woman to win the Singapore Literature Prize in its 28-year history. Her debut collection, Gaze Back, was lauded as “a clarion call for gender and linguistic reclamation” with its sassy confidence and universal appetite. The judges praised its “fearless and unapologetic” take on taboo topics from menstruation to sexuality.

On the non-fiction front, the 2024 prize was awarded to Khir Johari for The Food of Singapore Malays: Gastronomic Travels Through The Archipelago, which chronicles the complexities and continuities of Singapore’s multiethnic culinary heritage. The tome, which took 14 years from conception to publication, beat five other longlisted titles to win the prize. It is the third time Johari’s work has been a finalist for the prize.

The top prize in the Group 1 category, which was won on Feb 11, was $19.4 million, which was split among eight winning tickets. The winning ticket was purchased online via the Singapore Pools app, a spokesman said. This is the largest amount won on a single ticket since the Covid-19 pandemic, when the previous record was $15 million in 2022.

Britain’s Prince William walked the green carpet at Changi Airport on Tuesday for the third Earthshot Prize ceremony, which celebrated five winners of solutions to tackle climate change. He hailed the winners as proof that hope remains as the effects of climate change become increasingly evident. Celebrities including Oscar winner Cate Blanchett, actor Donnie Yen and Australian wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin joined him.

In a move to promote safe internet use in Singapore, AI Singapore has launched the Online Safety Prize Challenge, a competition that seeks to advance research into artificial intelligence (AI) to help combat harmful memes on social media. It also aims to foster safer online interactions worldwide, particularly in regions with limited data on harmful content. The 10-week challenge will run from November 2023 to January 2024, and participants will be required to submit their solution to the competition’s website. The deadline for submissions is March 2. For more information, click here.