Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Association (SFCCA) held the awards ceremony for the Yuan Magazine’s Outstanding Literary Award 2024 at its Level 2 Multi-Purpose Hall on Sunday, 12 April 2025, 10.30am. The winning prose entries were revealed with Mr Chong Wing Hong’s 《家住汤申台》 emerging as the winner.
Award winner Mr Chong Wing Hong (centre) receiving the trophy from SFCCA Vice-President Mr Chan Kian Kuan (right) and Head of Yuan Magazine Editorial Department Mr Giam Meng Tuck (left).
The Yuan Magazine’s Outstanding Literary Award 2024 began accepting submissions at the end of 2023. After a year of selection, a total of 6 entries were shortlisted. Besides the winning entries, the shortlisted entries include 《南音袅袅》 by Huai Ying,《爱上七里香》 by Qi Yarong, 《遇见岁月》 by Chua Kay Liang 《狮城的四大美人树》 by Shi JiaXiang, and《何曾念此》 by Sun Zhiwei.
Group photo of the writers with the judging panel: (From left) Dr Lee Wee Heong, Head of Chinese Studies at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, shortlisted writer Shi JiaXiang, Head of Yuan Magazine Editorial Department Mr Giam Meng Tuck, writer You Jin, shortlisted writer Qi Yarong, winning writer Chong Wing Hong, SFCCA Vice-President Chan Kian Kuan，shortlisted writer Chua Kay Liang and Sun Zhiwei.
In his speech, Mr Chan Kian Kuan, Vice President of SFCCA shared that this year marks the 10th year of the Yuan Magazine’s Outstanding Literary Award and over the past decade, we have witnessed the steady growth of the local literary scene. The purpose of the award is to encourage and recognise local Chinese literary writers, inspiring youths to engage in writing.
This year’s panel of judges included renowned writer You Jin and Lin Gao, as well as Dr Lee Wee Heong, Head of Chinese Studies at the Singapore University of Social Sciences. Speaking on behalf of the judges, You Jin remarked that the six shortlisted works resembled the dazzling colours within a kaleidoscope – each unique and captivating. They depict the depict the diverse cultural landscape in SIngapore through different perspectives, reflecting historical depth, everyday nuance, and cultural richness.
The writer for this year’s winning entry is a retired journalist, Mr Chong Wing Hong. In his award acceptance speech, he reflected on his journey in the literary scene after retirement and expressed gratitude to SFCCA for establishing the award and supporting the local literature scene.
Yuan Magazine is Singapore’s only Chinese language cultural bimonthly magazine published by SFCCA. It has a 40-year history, with 173 issues published to date. To promote local literature, Yuan Magazine launched a ‘Local Literature’ section in 2016 and established the Yuan Magazine’s Outstanding Literary Award. Every year, SFCCA invites the submission of fiction, prose, and poetry and selected works will be published in the magazine, and winners for the award will be chosen from this. Besides receiving monetary benefits for having their work published, the winner of the award will also receive a medal and $2000 in cash.
Yuan Magazine’s Outstanding Literary Award 2025 (Poetry) is now open for submissions! For more details, refer to the poster below:
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