Organised by non-profit organisation Orchid Jayceettes, the annual awards recognise exceptional leaders aged 21 to 39 years in 10 different fields, ranging from humanitarian leadership to medical innovation.

The first awards were given out in 1972, and previous honourees include Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, singer-pastor Sun Ho and Dr Fatimah Lateef, MP for Marine Parade GRC.

Local honourees get to represent Singapore in their respective categories at the Junior Chamber International (JCI) World Congress. There, they will compete against honourees from 43 other countries in their respective categories.

Singapore has won at the international level six times before, with Dr Fatimah as the 2006 world honouree in the field of humanitarian and voluntary leadership.

Speaking at Singapore Management University on Monday, Dr Fatimah said: 'So many young people are doing good work out there. Hopefully the awards can motivate and inspire more of them to keep doing what they believe in.'

Organisations and individuals are invited to nominate outstanding young persons in the 10 categories. Nomination entry forms can be found at www.toypsingapore.com

Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on Nov 4.