Former MP Irene Ng wins $30,000 Spirit Of Singapore book prize for Rajaratnam biography
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(From left) Dr Alan H.J. Chan's daughter Judy Chan, author Irene Ng and Professor Tommy Koh at The Fullerton Hotel.
PHOTO: SUSS
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SINGAPORE – An authorised biography of pioneer leader S. Rajaratnam by former Tampines MP Irene Ng has won the second edition of the Dr Alan H.J. Chan Spirit Of Singapore Book Prize.
Published in 2024, S. Rajaratnam, The Authorised Biography, Volume Two: The Lion’s Roar took home top honours worth $30,000 on Nov 20, awarded by the Singapore University of Social Sciences to works that “embody the nation’s heart and spirit”.
It beat four other shortlisted titles to clinch Singapore’s richest annual book award, established in 2023. The ceremony, held at The Fullerton Hotel, was attended by over 120 guests, including guest of honour Professor Tommy Koh, a long-time book industry supporter and Singapore’s Ambassador-at-Large.
Ng, a former senior political correspondent at The Straits Times and later People’s Action Party politician, was nearly in tears over her win.
She said: “When I wrote the book, it was already with the hope that people would recognise that Mr Rajaratnam embodied the spirit of Singapore. It’s not about wealth but the inner soul, the inner strength. It is his belief in the ability of the human spirit to overcome all odds.”
Ng is working on a more distilled version of the two volumes of her Rajaratnam biographies for younger audiences. Parsing the first Minister of Foreign Affairs’ private papers and declassified files was a complex undertaking, but most difficult for her was dwelling on Mr Rajaratnam’s final years when he suffered from dementia.
Ng pointed out that the original draft of the national pledge penned by Mr Rajaratnam had the line – “We will seek happiness and progress by helping each other” – and said this solidarity and fellow feeling must be remembered.
“It’s all the more important as we face great income gaps today with everybody in the IT race, and there are some who have failed and feeling left behind.”
A nine-member panel, led by chief judge and former Singapore Books Publishers Association president Triena Ong, praised her work for its rigorous research and eloquent investigation of the pioneer leader’s philosophy at a time of great upheaval.
The decision was unanimous after an animated discussion. “In spite of its huge size, The Lion’s Roar reads breezily and offers insights into key moments of Singapore’s history that are likely not to be found elsewhere,” Ms Ong said.
Two other shortlisted titles received the merit prize of $5,000 each: Fairoz Ahmad’s richly layered mystery of a disappeared schoolgirl in a 1970s Malay kampung, Neverness (2024 Enigmas: Tay Seow Huah, My Father, Singapore’s Pioneer Spy Chief
The 2025 shortlist also includes poet Chim Sher Ting’s World War II collection Burn After Dawn (2024)
The book prize was set up after a $1 million donation from the late shipowner, Confucian scholar and philanthropist Alan H.J. Chan, with the inaugural prize going to Woon Tai Ho’s biography of the late artist Lim Tze Peng, The Soul Of Ink: Lim Tze Peng At 100.
Unlike other prizes which prioritise literary or history content, a key criterion is that the winner must express the spirit of Singapore and inspire values such as compassion, empathy, volunteerism and activism.
Prof Koh, who almost let slip the winner in a humorous opening speech, said one of his dreams has come true, with his foreign diplomatic friends marvelling that there is a book launch in Singapore nearly every week.
“Twenty-five years ago, there were very few books published in Singapore. I kept urging my friends to write. We were consumers of content, but now we are producers.”
