1. Yes, awards and prizes serve useful purposes.
1.1. Environment
1.1.1. Recognition given by globally recognised organisations to countries can encourage them to further pursue more environementally friendly policies in order to uphold the good name of their nation
1.1.1.1. The Singapore Environmental Achievement Awards (SEAA) was launched by Mr Yeo Cheow Tong, the former Minister for the Environment, in 1997. The award recognises Singapore-based organisations who have shown commitment to environmental and social responsibilities.
1.2. Economic
1.2.1. Monetary awards are required by breadwinning sportsmen for them to meet their needs and to support their families
1.3. Education
1.3.1. Awards and prizes encourage students to obtain excellent academic grades and keep working hard or even pay more efforts in their studies.
1.3.1.1. Cash prizes serve motivational purposes and even practical ones such as financing students from lower income families so that they can afford extra academic materials like assessment books
1.3.1.1.1. Eg. Edusave and scholarship awards for top students in secondary and JC school level.
1.3.1.1.2. Eg. End of year prize presentation ceremonies in most education institutions in Singapore
1.3.1.2. Eg. End of year prize presentation ceremonies in most education institutions in Singaopore
1.3.2. Respectable institutions, such as companies, universities and government bodies, award scholarships for students who are the best in their field of study to either carry on with further/tertiary education or specialize in their chosen field.
1.3.2.1. Specialize in chosen field: New forms of research surfacing and introduce new perspectives in the research arena, giving rise to more rewarding benefits of research and developments.
1.3.2.2. Carry on with further/tertiary education: Students can have the opportunities to study further, usually abroad and at better/more prestigious institutions. (Especially needy students who may not have such opportunities if they did not have such scholarships funding them.)
1.4. Social
1.4.1. A recognition of one's effort, allowing them to feel appreciated and thus encouraged to do better and maximise their full potential
1.4.1.1. Media: Academy Awards, Tony's, Grammy's, etc.
1.4.1.2. Political/International: Nobel prizes.
1.4.1.3. Other's: Best Teacher, etc.
1.4.2. Creates a competitive society which means that people would put in their best efforts to win the prizes and awards
1.5. Technology
1.5.1. Prestige (in the form of recognised prizes and awards) drives some scientists and researchers to further their researches in their various fields
1.5.1.1. Eg. Nobel Science Prize
1.5.1.2. In most education system, students delving in research programmes will be awarded after fulfilling certain course requirements. These awards motivate students to stay in the field and fuels their passion for science
1.5.1.2.1. Neuroscience Research Partnership (NRP) was established in 2007 under the chairmanship of Colin Blakemore as an experiment in a new way of promoting biomedical science in Singapore.
1.6. Health
1.6.1. Sportsmen who are awarded the top sports prizes in their fields are encouraged to train more and work harder to achieve new personal bests.
1.6.1.1. Eg. The Top 100 Everest Hospitals award encouraes hospitals to continuously upgrade their facilitites and quality of care given to patients in order to keep themselves in the list. For instance, Banner Boswell Medical Center in Sun City
2. No, awards and prizes do not serve any useful purpose.
2.1. Social
2.1.1. Might create a materialistic society, loss of moral values. People contribute to society only to obtain something else in exchange
2.1.1.1. Eg Singapore students do Community Involvement Programmes for the pupose of obtaining CIP hours which is good for their portfolio
2.1.1.2. People might demand for better and more prizes (greed)
2.1.1.3. Competitive environment created when people fight for a particular prize results in unhappiness and people resorting to underhand means to smear each other's reputation
2.1.2. Award recipients may become complacent after receiving their award. Instead of striving for better performances in the future, they may backtrack and their potential may start to degrade.
2.2. Politics
2.2.1. Political figures who wish to raise their reputations by obtaining awards so that they are recognised and might gain more support from the people
2.3. Sports
2.3.1. Many sportsmen only compete for winning awards and prizes but lose their sportsmanship and even use means to achieve their aims.
2.3.1.1. Therefore awards and prizes do not always serve useful purpose because they may turn sportsmen away from the true meaning of sports
2.3.1.1.1. Eg. The hand of God. In the 1986 FIFA World Cup Maradona, an Argentine legendary football player, scored an illegal handball for winning the match against England, but he refused to admit that it was wrong.
2.4. Technology
2.4.1. Awards and prizes do not always serve useful purposes in the scientific arena. Awards and prizes may fuel greed and influence scientists to fabrication of results in order to bring glory to themselves and their countries
2.4.1.1. EG A Korean scientist, Hwang Woo Suk faked stem cell research that had raised hopes of new cures for hard-to-treat diseases.
2.5. Economic
2.5.1. Money spent on awards and prizes are given to a select few only (the best in their arena/platform/field), which does not benefit the general public and solving social issues, such as mass poverty and starvation in developing countries.
2.5.2. Some monetary award recipients are known to use the money they receive for other purposes.
2.5.2.1. Scholarship holders who are given a lumpsum of money and sent overseas to study may not know how to financially manage themselves and decide to spend their money carelessly, such as gambling and shopping.
2.5.3. Some monetary awards are just too much. The money can be used for other more important purposes such as development
2.6. Health
2.6.1. Award recipients may use their monetary awards for the purchase and consumption of alcohol and drugs, which will worsen the health of the recipient.
2.6.1.1. This is especially evident when the recipients are sportsmen or those who requrie their health to be in tip top shape for their field.
3. Definitions
3.1. Useful
3.1.1. Advantageous, helpful, beneficial, serving a purpose.
3.2. Purposes
3.2.1. Practical result, reason for something to be done.
3.3. Awards and prizes
3.3.1. Reward, recognition of effort/superiority.
3.4. Sources of prizes
3.4.1. Academic
3.4.2. Recognition
3.4.2.1. Academy Awards
3.4.2.2. Best Teacher/Worker/etc.
3.4.3. Sports
3.4.3.1. Olympics
3.4.4. Political/International
3.4.4.1. Nobel Prizes
3.4.5. Science
3.4.5.1. The Singapore Environmental Achievement Awards (SEAA)