Edwin Thumboo Prize 2025
May 29, 2025
The Department of English, Linguistics and Theatre Studies at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences has awarded the Edwin Thumboo Prize 2025 to two pre-university students and Merit Prizes to three students for their excellent literary work.
Named after one of Singapore’s most prominent poets and scholars, the Edwin Thumboo Prize aims to promote excellence in the study of Literature at the pre-university level by recognising outstanding literary works by A-level and International Baccalaureate Diploma (IBDP) students of English Literature in Singapore. It is administered by the Department with support from the Ministry of Education (MOE). The Prize, established in 2019, is funded by generous donors, including patrons of the arts and former winners of the Angus Ross Prize.
Joint Winners
Pan Haotian
Raffles Institution
Elaine Wong Xin Yi
Victoria Junior College
Pan Haotian
"I love literature because it is a way of seeing myself reflected back to me—not always clearly, not always kindly, but always honestly.
Every story, and the lessons within, show me who I am while bringing me closer to who I want to be. I would like to thank my teachers: Ms Chuang Sulynn, Ms Lye Su-Lin, Ms Rathiga Veera, Mr Samuel Chan, and Mrs Geetha Creffield, for reminding me that no matter how much I know about each text, its author will always know more about me. My deepest gratitude goes to my parents, who, despite not being native English speakers, learnt every word in my bedtime stories just so they could recite them to me each night."
Elaine Wong Xin Yi
"For me, Literature is an inherited dialogue. Observations, decisions, and most vitally, questions that are passed down from pen to pen.
It comforts me greatly that across history and geography, Literature is proof that one is rarely ever alone in trying to make sense of the world and our place in it.
I am beyond grateful to have likewise, always felt supported in my passion. From my parents, whose support was utterly unshakeable, to my teachers, who gave me so many reasons to love Literature even as they persisted through my terrible handwriting. I of course cannot forget my friends, the often involuntary yet obliging recipients of literary rants."
Merit Prize
Ho Yi Lin
Catholic Junior College
"I have always perceived my life in parallels with literary fiction, like James Baldwin wrote: “You read something which you thought only happened to you, and you discover that it happened 100 years ago to Dostoyevsky.” Literature is a key medium in which my subjective human experiences become understood and resonant, and this act of understanding is what makes everything worthwhile. I would like to thank my literature teachers, Ms Pauline Chua and Ms Mackenzie Rae Schoon, for showing me the beauty of literary arts and allowing me to understand its wonders. There are also friends and family who, despite their lack of connection to similar literary passions, carry this notion of understanding through their undying support, and I am eternally grateful for that."
Shridhar Raj s/o Eswarren Raj
Anglo-Chinese Junior College
"Joan Didion wrote that “we tell ourselves stories in order to live”. In reading each line of text, I’ve found the language to understand and articulate my own story, and in every close reading, a conversation that’s kept me going. I'm grateful to Mrs Geetha Creffield, Ms Tan Yiwen, Ms Lee Minwei, and Mr Sanjay Matthew for never letting me get too comfortable with my own ideas. They always challenged every easy line of argument, teaching me to sit with ambiguity and appreciate the grey. To my parents: thank you for every detour into a bookstore and every quiet ‘okay, just one more’ that built a home out of words. And to my friends — thank you for making the A-Levels survivable. We had no idea what we were doing, but we did it loudly, sleep-deprived, and together."
Voon Kee Shand
Temasek Junior College
"Literature is a medium that carries deeply personal emotions, thoughts, and narratives— as such, the work of studying and appreciating literature is, to me, an act of loving life and all that it means to be human. I would like to thank my literature teachers, especially Mr Jeremy Tay, for deepening my passion in the subject. I am also immensely grateful to my parents for inspiring my love for reading, and to all my loved ones, for their unwavering support and showing me, in their own unique ways, the beauty that life has to offer."
The winners of the Edwin Thumboo Prize were selected through a rigorous selection process. In 2024, government pre-university institutions were invited to nominate one candidate each. The competition attracted entries from 19 institutions.
In addition to the institution recommending a candidate, the candidates were also required to submit a piece of academic writing on a literary text or topic.
Candidates were assessed by a selection panel comprising representatives from NUS and MOE, as well as former Angus Ross prize-winners. The selection panel for this year’s Prize included Assistant Professor Susan Ang from the Department and Mr Aaron Chee, an Angus Ross Prize winner and currently working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
View the highlights from the award ceremony
About Emeritus Professor Edwin Thumboo
Emeritus Professor Edwin Thumboo is one of Singapore’s pioneering poets. An accomplished literary practitioner and critic, he dedicated his life to the composition and study of English Literature.
His work is studied in schools, both locally and abroad, and featured in public places in Singapore. At NUS, Professor Thumboo had served as Head of the Department of English Language and Literature, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and Director of the NUS Centre for the Arts. He has also received numerous awards, including the Book Award for Poetry in English (1978, 1980 and 1994), Southeast Asia Write Award (1979), The Cultural Medallion (March 1980), ASEAN Cultural and Communication Award for Literature (August 1987), Public Service Star (August 1991), the Meritorious Service Medal (2006), and Distinguished Service Award (2008).
2023/24
Prize Winner
- Raphael Niu Zi Yuan
- Raffles Institution
Merit Award
- Keevan Kanagalingam
- St Joseph’s Institution
2022/23
Prize Winner
- Shayna Leng Shuen Rea
- Hwa Chong Institution
Merit Awards
- Chow Zeyi
- St Joseph’s Institution
- Gwyneth Tan
- Catholic Junior College
2021/22
Prize Winner
- Nicholas Yong Yoong-Yao
- Raffles Institution
Merit Awards
- Caleb Low
- Catholic Junior College
- Sarah Zafirah bte Noor Ashikin
- St Joseph’s Institution
2020/21
Joint Prize Winners
- Suneeti Sreekumar
- National Junior College
- Wong Shao-Yi
- Raffles Institution
Merit Awards
- Elise Lauw
- Temasek Junior College
- Nyang Ying Zhi
- Hwa Chong Institution
2019/20
Prize Winner
- Loh Su Jean
- Raffles Institution
Merit Awards
- Freyja Chu Shuai Wu
- Dunman High School
- Ng Zheng Yang
- Anglo Chinese Junior College
- Silvia Suseno
- Nanyang Junior College
2018/19
Prize Winner
- Gan Chong Jing
- Raffles Institution
Merit Awards
- Jane Lee Jia Hui
- Dunman High School
- Lim Yi Jun
- River Valley High School
- Yew Jien Huey
- Victoria Junior College