Coliwoo and Craftwork, two leading businesses from Singapore, were honored at this year’s Singapore Prestige Brand Awards (SPBA), winning top honours at Wednesday night’s SPBA 2023 ceremony. All told there were 21 award winners.
This year, the SPBA jury decided on its selection based on resonance – how well products or services resonated with customers and society at large. This change from previous years where judges comprised industry specialists.
SPBA, now in its 30th year of operation, has become the go-to award for businesses striving to establish their brands in an increasingly competitive business landscape. Organised by Association of Small and Medium Enterprises Singapore (Asme), these awards also honor those with successful sustainability records.
Singaporean history books now have their own book award — administered by NUS Department of History, this prize will be presented every three years and carry with it a cash prize of S$50,000.
NUS Professor Kishore Mahbubani, chair of this year’s jury, stated that Prof Miksic’s book made a profound impactful on how we understand Singapore history. According to Mahbubani, Prof Miksic’s work not only recreated past events but also discovered and interpreted historical evidence such as Chinese trader Wang Dayuan’s mentions of places which scholars later identified as Singapore.
“This award marks an important step forward as Singapore approaches its centennial in 2022,” Prof Mahbubani noted, hoping that more people would become interested in researching, writing, and publishing Singapore history.
A five-member jury will select the 2024 Prize recipient: Mahbubani; historian and NUS Asia Research Institute Distinguished Fellow John Miksic; economist Lam San Ling; academic Peter Coclanis and writer Meira Chand.
Prince William of Britain announced on Tuesday, in Singapore, the winners of his Earthshot Prize – an award offering PS1m in recognition of green innovators – during a ceremony. He applauded the 15 finalists – from an Indian manufacturer of solar dryers to the global non-profit WildAid Marine Program – who demonstrated “hope still remains” amid global environmental challenges. Royalty will pay their own tribute to President John F Kennedy’s 1962 “moonshot” speech by visiting Singapore next month and meeting some of the finalists through various local activations programs. Prince Michael of Kent will also attend a United for Wildlife global summit, featuring representatives of law enforcement agencies and businesses working against the illegal wildlife trade. It is anticipated that he may try his hand at dragon boating – an increasingly popular activity here.