Singapore, 28 June 2004 - The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Economics Society of Singapore (ESS) today awarded prizes for the annual MAS-ESS Essay Competition 2003. BG George Yeo, Minister for Trade and Industry gave out the prizes during the ESS Annual Dinner, which was held at the Grand Copthorne Hotel. The top three winners in both the Student and Open categories were:
|
|
Student Category |
Open Category |
|
First prize |
Mr See Kok Heng
Hwa Chong Junior College |
Mr Choo Chian
DBS Bank |
|
Second prize |
Ms Judith Huang Si Ying
Hwa Chong Junior College |
Dr Donghyun Park
Nanyang Technological University |
|
Third prize |
Mr Tsang Wai Ching
Anglo-Chinese Junior College |
Mr Terence Ho
Ministry of Trade and Industry |
The theme of the essay competition, held between 11 Jul 2003 - 15 Feb 2004, was "How Can Singapore Remain Competitive in a Globalising World Economy?" The competition attracted a total of 83 submissions with the number of student entries more than doubling last year's numbers. The quality of the student essays was also distinctly better than in previous years. Commenting on the standard of the student essays this year, ESS President Dr Khor Hoe Ee said, "We are very pleased with the response and the quality of the essays in the student category. They demonstrated maturity, depth and critical thinking".
The first prize in the open category was awarded to Mr Choo Chian, a banker with DBS Bank. According to the judges, his essay stood out because of his bold ideas, the depth of his research, and the force of his arguments.
This is the third 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:
|
Category |
Open category |
Students |
|
First prize |
$5,000 |
$2,000 |
|
Second prize |
$2,000 |
$1,000 |
|
Third prize |
$1,000 |
$500 |
***