It was a resounding yes for The Naysayer's Book Club at the Singapore Book Awards yesterday.

The non-fiction debut by multimedia journalist Simon Vincent profiles 26 figures from local civil society known for challenging the status quo.

It won Book of the Year at the Singapore Book Publishers Association's annual industry awards, which recognise the best in local book publishing.

There is no shortlist for the Book of the Year category, which is judged separately after the other prizes are decided. It considers the other categories' winners and independent submissions.

Judge Kathryn Lane, who is the National Library Board's (NLB) English language collection head of selection, said: "This collection of interviews with 26 remarkable, eloquent and colourful Singaporean personalities who are not afraid to say 'No, Sir!' - or Ma'am as the case may be - while resolutely and immeasurably contributing to Singapore's civic evolution, is an important, provocative, inspiring, gutsy and relevant book of the times."

The fifth edition of the awards was held at the Conrad Centennial Singapore hotel.

Book publisher Epigram was the big winner last night with four awards. Besides The Naysayer's Book Club, it also won Best Literary Work for Ng Yi-Sheng's speculative short story collection Lion City; Best Children's Picture Book for The Incredible Basket by Quek Hong Shin, and Best Book Cover Design for Suffian Hakim's comic novel The Minorities, designed by Chee Jia Yi.

Marshall Cavendish got two awards: Best Middle Grade/ Young Adult Title for Josephine Chia's novel Big Tree In A Small Pot, and Best Illustrated Non-Fiction Title for Between The Lines: Early Advertising In Singapore, 1830s-1960s, which it published with NLB.

The Best Non-Fiction Title went to Flying Sleeves - The Grandeur Of Chinese Opera by Dr Chua Ee Kiam. It documents the heritage of Chinese opera and took the 66-year-old 12 years to finish. Nury Vittachi's The First Of Everything won Best Education Title.

To qualify, books must have been published in one of Singapore's four official languages between Dec 2, 2017 and Dec 31 last year.

Winners, chosen by a panel of judges comprising writers, academics, booksellers and other industry insiders, received a plaque and a certificate of recognition.

Singapore Book Publishers Association president Peter Schoppert said next year's awards will introduce new categories for Best E-book, Best Audiobook and Best Digital Marketing Campaign.