John Miksic’s book Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea: 1300-1800 won him this year’s Singapore prize from an expert four-member jury led by Prof Wang Gungwu from National University of Singapore’s East Asian Institute.

This award comes with a cash prize of S$50,000 and is open to works published between 1 June 2021 and 31 May 2024 in English that cover any aspect of Singaporean history. This prize marks its inaugural installment dedicated exclusively to Singapore history – comics or graphic novels may also qualify provided they include clear historical themes.

Prince William made an unexpected visit to Singapore on Tuesday, his first since being appointed Britain’s special envoy for global sustainable development in 2016. At a ceremony honoring green innovators held at state-owned Media Corp theatre, he earned cheers from onlookers wearing a dark green blazer and joined by actress Hannah Waddingham, Sterling K Brown from pop bands One Republic and Bastille as well as former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – drawing cheers from onlookers at an awards ceremony honoring green innovators at Media Corp theatre.

Recently, this week’s finalist were named. They include an Indian maker of solar-powered dryers, a soil carbon marketplace and groups working to make electric car batteries cleaner and restore Andean forests. Their efforts were applauded by Prince Harry as they provide hope despite climate change.

At this event, which coincided with the biennial Singapore Literature Prize 2022, many notable achievements were marked out for note. Twelve writers in four languages (Chinese, Malay, Tamil and English) were honored for their writing; Clara Chow was shortlisted in three of them – Chinese poetry, English fiction and creative nonfiction creative nonfiction categories in total; she became the first writer in its history to achieve this status.

Miksic, who won the Category D Prize, hopes it will show the public that you don’t need to be a professional historian in order to write history. According to him, Ms Hidayah contributed significantly to making his work both a primary source and synthesis. Judges also praised the book for its clear and engaging style. This prize was launched in 2014 after Professor Ravi Ramaswamy wrote an opinion piece for Straits Times to encourage Singapore philanthropists to create the cash award prize money prize fund. A philanthropist then responded promptly by offering to set up an endowment fund where interest will support future prizes; Temasek Trust of Singapore serves as sponsor.