SINGAPORE — The first prize devoted to the Republic’s history, worth S$50,000, has been launched in support of the SG50 programme to celebrate the nation’s five decades of independence.

Entries for the NUS Singapore History Prize, offered by the National University of Singapore’s history department, will be accepted from Jan 1.

The global competition was sparked by a column that Professor Kishore Mahbubani, dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, wrote in April, in which he appealed for a cash prize for the best history book written on Singapore.

Three months later, a newly minted Singapore citizen stepped forward to offer S$500,000 under one condition — he wanted to remain anonymous.

At a media briefing yesterday, NUS said history buffs could submit their non-fictional historical accounts of Singapore to a four-member jury panel, which includes Prof Mahbubani, from January. All submissions will have to be published during the 30-month application window.

Entries for the competition —penned in English, or translated — can touch on any aspect of Singapore history. The author of the winning work will receive a cash prize of S$50,000.

Prof Mahbubani said: “The goal of this prize is to inspire new historical studies of Singapore and generate an informed historical discussion, which will help future generations understand what was truly unique about Singapore’s history.”

Fellow judge Claire Chiang, senior vice-president of Banyan Tree Holdings, hopes the competition will address the missing pieces of local history.

“I’d like to know more about the Malay world, Indian world, how Singaporeans in shophouses, neighbourhoods and kampungs built communities. This is something that’s missing in our education,” she said.

NUS Professor Brenda Yeoh said the political leanings of the entries would not be an issue.

“The basic factors are that it should be a work that’s largely based on evidence and should be a coherent and powerful account. We’re not looking for a work that would be more (pro-)establishment or more anti-establishment. We would expect a whole range in the way that people approach history,” said the dean of the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, which includes the history department.

NUS will manage the donation of S$500,000 — matched dollar for dollar by the Government — in an endowment fund.

The income generated from the fund will be used for the S$50,000 cash prize, which will be awarded every three years. The inaugural award will be presented in late 2017.

VALERIE KOH