Chan Mui Hiang and Png Poh Seng Prize
In 2003, Professor Ivan Png donated an expendable sum of $15,000 to establish a prize for the best graduate student in History in honour of his father, Dr Png Poh Seng. A cash prize of $750, will be awarded annually to the graduate student in History with the best average grade for all courses taken in the academic year. Only students reading 3 or more courses in the academic year will be eligible for the prize and no award will be made unless there is a candidate of sufficient merit.
In 2023, Dr Png Poh Seng donated an expendable sum of $15,000 to the prize and renamed it as 'Chan Mui Hiang and Png Poh Seng Prize'. The cash prize of $1,000 will be awarded annually.
About Dr Png Poh Seng and Chan Mui Hiang
Dr Png Poh Seng holds a BA (Hons) from the University of Malaya and a PhD degree from the Australian National University. He was affiliated with the Department of History, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Singapore for more than ten years, specializing in the history of East and Southeast Asia. In 1967, with a grant from Asia Foundation, he formed and directed a Singapore-Malaysia Chinese unit to conduct research on the Chinese community in the region. He is best known for two journal articles: (1) Png Poh Seng, “The Kuomintang in Malaya, 1912-1941”, Journal of Southeast Asian History, 2,1 (1961): 1-32; (2) Png Poh Seng, “The Straits Chinese in Singapore: a case of local identity and socio-cultural accommodation”, Journal of Southeast Asian History, 10,1 (1969): 95-114, which continue to be cited.
On leaving the university, he worked at the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and then the NUS Faculty of Business Administration. His recent interests have been good spoken English and graphology.
Madam Madam Chan Mui Hiang (1928-2002) completed Senior Cambridge studies at the Raffles Girls School. She qualified as a teacher in the mid-1950s, and taught in various primary schools across Singapore until retirement from the Education Service. She is remembered as a great cook and keen gardener. Upon retirement, she took great pleasure in her grandchildren.