About Dr Alan HJ Chan Spirit of Singapore Book Prize
Established through a generous SGD1million donation from Dr Alan HJ Chan to SUSS, the Book Prize aims to recognise the best spirit of creative writing in Singapore that has a significant impact on societal thinking or issues with Singapore as the backdrop, and evokes understanding and reflection about our community or inspires compassion, empathy, voluntarism and activism, resilience and holism towards building a Singapore identity or presents directions for the future development of our society or any intentions and outcomes that the work sets out to portray about the Singapore Spirit.
A strong believer in education, Dr Chan completed the Advanced Management Program of Harvard University in July 1979 as a successful entrepreneur in his forties and was awarded an honorary doctorate degree by Bond University, Australia, in February 2014. The purpose of his gift for the Book Prize is to promote understanding and appreciation of the Spirit of Singapore and the importance of social good in the making of Singapore society.
The Spirit of Singapore is broadly defined as the mindset and values that have been indispensable in shaping the development of modern Singapore, such as equality, diversity, religious harmony, meritocracy, pragmatism, resilience, and an emphasis on education, innovation and community. The work could draw on our past, present and future directions for the development of our society.