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  Business Times Singapore 26 Oct 06
Rolex tribute for ten who made a difference
A great honour for S'pore to host awards ceremony, says Tommy Koh
By Matthew Phan

Today Online 26 Oct 06
Whale shark researcher Brad Norman wins Rolex Award
by Ashraf Safdar

ONE is creating a global whale shark database, another is reviving the craft of embroidery in India, while a third is running a nomadic school for the Evenks in Siberia.

For their groundbreaking projects, five eminent innovators from the world over--Australia, France, India, Thailand, and the United Kingdom--will be recognised tonight at the 12th Rolex Awards for Enterprise.

They will receive US$100,000 ($157,250) and a personally inscribed Rolex Oyster chronometer from President S R Nathan at a dinner here--the first time the award is being held in South-east Asia.

With the money, award winner Brad Norman can advance his work to develop a photo identification system that uses whale shark sightings and photography from around the world to create a database of the endangered sea creature.

"The whale shark is the largest fish in the sea but we know very little about it," said Mr Norman. "We're engaging people to become citizen scientists."

With previous work showing that the spots on the whale shark form a unique fingerprint, Mr Norman plans to use these photos--contributed by ordinary citizens--to monitor the demographics, migratory patterns and reproductive behaviour of this giant fish. Hopefully, when all this is understood, the species could be saved from extinction, he said.

Fellow award winner Rory Wilson has devised a tiny little black box that monitors an animal's position, heading and speed in order to estimate its energy usage. By understanding these energy usage patterns, Mr Wilson hopes to explain how creatures like Emperor penguins survive in Antarctica's harsh environment.

"It's okay not to understand animals," said Mr Wilson. "But it becomes bad when it comes at the expense of extinction."

Since the awards were launched in 1976, some 23,300 applications have been received and 55 winners selected. Women made up 22 per cent of applicants this year.

An independent jury--including Professor Tommy Koh this year--select the winners based on the spirit of enterprise, originality, feasibility and potential impact of their projects.

Interestingly, entries from Singapore hit a record high of 18 this year, with applicants ranging from doctors to a photographer, a veterinarian and a software developer.

Business Times Singapore 26 Oct 06
Rolex tribute for ten who made a difference
A great honour for S'pore to host awards ceremony, says Tommy Koh
By Matthew Phan

(SINGAPORE) The five winners of the 12th Rolex Awards for Enterprise were announced yesterday, at a press briefing attended by over two dozen members of the local and international media. The awards ceremony will be held at the Esplanade Concert Hall tonight.

The international awards have been handed out since 1976 to individuals deemed by an independent selection committee to have advanced human knowledge and well-being, and demonstrated extraordinary personal character in the process.

Projects are judged for their spirit of enterprise, originality and potential impact, as well as how much the Rolex Award would contribute to their success.

It is a 'very great honour' for Singapore to host the awards ceremony, which is being held in South-east Asia for the first time and attracting over 400 guests from the region and beyond, said Tommy Koh, ambassador-at-large for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and one of the judges for the award this year.

The biennial awards target a niche area that other honours, such as the Nobel Prizes, scientific medals or even social investment funds do not reach, he said.

For example, Rory Wilson - a winner this year for inventing a device to monitor animal movement and use of energy - said: 'There was no support from the scientific community because our discovery was of a method, and conservationists were more concerned with saving specific animals, rather than a universally applicable device. Rolex was the first to support such global effort.'

Another winner, Pilai Poonswad, faced down poachers in southern Thailand who had threatened the existence of the country's rare, colourful hornbills. 'Grants do not allow you to buy certain things, like a four-wheel drive jeep,' she said. 'The Rolex Awards allows us to procure basic equipment like binoculars, which you need to spot the birds.'

A third winner, Brad Norman, has developed a system to identify and track whale sharks. The system adapts a star-mapping algorithm originally written by Nasa to recognise the sharks, each of which has a unique set of star-like marks on its back. The photos can be snapped by amateur divers anywhere, allowing thousands of 'citizen scientists' around the world to participate.

Frenchwoman Alexandra Lavrillier, a fourth winner, has dedicated her life to living among the Evenk, a Yakut tribe in Siberia, setting up a mobile school for their children.

A fifth winner, Chanda Shroff, started an organisation in 1969 to teach traditional embroidery to the women of Kutch in India, thereby preserving the techniques and giving the women a means of making a living.

The winners receive US$100,000 and a gold Rolex chronometer. This year, another five associate winners were selected. They will receive US$50,000 and steel-and-gold chronometers.

The number of Southeast Asian applicants has increased 66 per cent since 2004, to 85 entries, said Rebecca Irvin, director of the awards, who hopes the awards ceremony will encourage more applicants from the region.

Entries from Singapore increased 50 per cent to 18 entries.
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