Singapore, 8 April 2003......The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Economics Society of Singapore (ESS) today awarded prizes for the annual MAS-ESS Essay Competition 2002. Deputy Prime Minister and MAS Chairman Lee Hsien Loong gave the prizes during the ESS Annual Dinner, which was held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. The top three winners in both the Student and Open categories were:

The theme of the essay competition, held between April-September last year, was "The role of the state in an increasingly borderless world". The competition attracted a total of 73 essay submissions, up from the 51 submissions received in the previous year. The first prize in the open category was awarded to Dr Shin Jang-Sup of the National University of Singapore. Dr Shin is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Economics.

Commenting on the standard of the essays submitted in the open category, ESS President Dr Khor Hoe Ee said, " The judges had a hard time agreeing on the winners. Several contestants conducted in-depth research across wide-ranging topics and then weaved the many strands of this debate into a convincing argument." The judges were also encouraged by the fact that many of the writers went beyond the Singapore context and were able to look at the issue from a broader global perspective.

The competition also attracted a high quality of submissions for the student category. The first prize was awarded to Mr Seow Zhixiang, a student of Hwa Chong Junior College.  According to the judges, the prize-winning student essay stood out because of the fresh and bold ideas it put across.  "In today's environment where change and adaptation are critical, the willingness and ability to think in ways that challenge orthodox or the consensus view is highly valued." said Dr Khor.

This is the second year that MAS and ESS have jointly organized the Essay Competition. The following prizes were awarded to the top three essays in the two categories:

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