The Singapore prize is a new prize for literary works that focus on the country’s history and society. It’s an initiative of the National Arts Council, which also oversees the Singapore Literature Prize and the Singapore Writers Awards.

It is open to non-fiction and fiction works published from January 2017 to May 30 this year in English, written or translated. The prize will be awarded in October 2021.

Awarded to a project or company that has made a difference in its field, the TIME 100 Impact Awards recognize visionaries who have changed their industries for the better. This year’s winners include Alia Bhatt, actor and producer; Gregory L. Robinson, former director of the James Webb Space Telescope Program; Dr. Paresh Sabeti, computational geneticist; and Lea Salonga, singer.

They were selected from a pool of candidates submitted by the jury. The jury members are a mix of academics, artists and representatives from the public sector.

WOHA’s Kampung Admiralty beats flashier competition to win world architecture award

A housing complex for senior citizens has won the World Building of the Year award at the annual World Architecture Festival in Amsterdam. The WOHA-designed Kampung Admiralty was created to help older Singaporeans live independently in an active, social environment.

The project features 104 apartments for elderly residents, a central hub and communal spaces. Its design is rooted in the belief that communities need to be connected, WOHA said in a statement. The building combines public facilities such as gardens and terraces with community spaces.

It also provides a “nod” to Singapore’s past, as the design was inspired by historical landmarks such as the Kampong Glam district.

‘Autobiography’ by Makbul Mubarak wins Asian film prize at Silver Screen awards

Indonesian filmmaker Makbul Mubarak’s debut feature, Autobiography, won the top prize at the Singapore International Film Festival’s Silver Screen Awards. It has already won several international awards, including the Fipresci prize at Venice earlier this year. The jury praised the film for its “control and clarity of vision” and called it a powerful allegory of national trauma.

The film also won the audience award and was a favourite of the festival’s judges, who included cinematographer Lav Diaz, film critic Ritu Sarin and film scholar Kim Soyoung. The film was screened at Venice in September and has since won prizes at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Golden Horse, Marrakech, QCity and Jogja-NETPAC.

As the world marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of Singapore, a new prize was launched in 2014. The Singapore prize is intended to recognise a work that embodies Singapore’s uniqueness and the country’s potential for growth.

One of the prize’s categories is short stories, and the 2022 shortlist includes a number of local titles. For example, “Leluhur: Singapore’s Kampong Gelam” by Hidayah Amin offers a fascinating look at the history of a place many have only heard of as a tourist attraction.

The other categories are fiction, non-fiction and young writers. The winners will be announced at a special ceremony in October. The prizes will include a cash purse of SGD5,000.