The Singapore Prize 2023
The Singapore Prize recognizes individuals whose extraordinary efforts and selfless acts inspire others. Awarded annually by the Harvard Club of Singapore to an individual whose life and achievements have inspired others, its winner receives USD 50,000 cash plus up to three years’ worth of Harvard alumni benefits like scholarships.
Singapore Prize recipients also take advantage of a range of Harvard alumni benefits, including scholarships and career opportunities at major companies and organisations worldwide. Furthermore, prize recipients become members of Harvard Club Singapore – an alumni network group which connects alumni worldwide who share similar interests and passions.
In addition to its main prizes, the Singapore Prize awards a special prize for outstanding design work. Projects awarded this special prize must demonstrate groundbreaking design achievements across one or more impact areas: economic transformation; quality of life improvement; or furthering Singapore brand, culture, and community advancement. Amongst this year’s award recipients was CapitaSpring by Bjarke Ingels Group with RSP Architects Planners Engineers (Pte Ltd) working together with Carlo Ratti Associati; this green skyscraper harnessing nature’s restorative powers to create an inviting social realm where workers, residents, visitors can work, live together while living, playing and connecting.
Six projects were shortlisted for this prize by an expert panel representing engineering, architecture, urban planning and landscape disciplines. Winners were announced at a ceremony held at Parkroyal Collection Pickering hotel on Monday 4 May and celebrated at their awards banquet.
The Singapore Prize was launched in May 2022 to recognize and reward breakthrough solutions that eliminate poverty within Singapore. A total of 63 teams submitted ideas on how to combat poverty; eight were chosen for further consideration, receiving seed funding as well as mentoring support from mentors, potential funders, and dialogue with policymakers to advance their solutions and bring them into fruition.
Singapore provides several awards and prizes that recognize writers and their works, to encourage a vibrant literary scene. These awards are open to authors of all nationalities writing in any of Singapore’s four official languages – English, Chinese, Malay or Tamil. Among these awards is the Singapore Book Awards which honor the best Singapore book publishing across various categories such as literary works, education titles and professional books, with one award winner selected each year as Book of the Year winner.