Prince William made a surprise visit to Singapore as part of his Earthshot prize initiative launched by his royal foundation to address global warming. Arriving at Changi airport on Thursday, he was welcomed with an audience and tree planted in his honor; then along with Catherine they visited Rain Vortex: an indoor waterfall lit green as a mark of welcome.
William presented this year’s Earthshot prize 2023 award, with its focus on sustainable energy. During their visit, they also enjoyed viewing the National Museum of Singapore and an authentic Singaporean market. Finally, they joined Singapore ministers at an awards ceremony for Earthshot Prize 2023 award ceremonies where William presented this year’s prize with William as its presenter.
Dmytro Udovychenko received USD 50,000 as cash prize and concert engagements; Anna Agafia Egholm received USD 25,000; Angela Sin Ying Chan received USD 15,000. These awards were announced during a gala dinner hosted at Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music on Sunday evening.
Lee Lian designed custom trophies and medals for this year’s winners to commemorate the theme of sustainability in their designs, hoping that these would encourage young people to be more responsible with environmental concerns in their daily lives.
On Tuesday evening at Singapore International Water Week’s science and technology awards ceremony, Singaporean entrepreneur Prof Medema of Affinity Water won top honours. Recognised for using wastewater data to track COVID-19 virus outbreaks across Singapore communities and use wastewater analysis technology Affinity provided as part of their solution; their award jury recognized this contribution which contributed significantly towards improving health, safety and resilience within their local communities.
The NUS Singapore History Prize was first launched as part of programmes commemorating Singapore 50. Administered by NUS’ Department of History, this book award welcomes works written or translated into English from any country – its aim being “to cast a wide net so as any aspect of Singapore’s history can be covered”, according to its prize jury.
Last year, NUS presented its Book Prize to Vincent Tong’s biography of gangster Sam Hua. While only books have been considered so far, future prize committee decisions could include films, comics and other creative works with historical themes as eligible works for consideration. A prize panel will select their winner every three years with NUS providing prize criteria and closing nomination dates as well as an open call for entries at least a year in advance of awarding the Prize.