The Minutes of the Council Meeting for 8 December 1960 recorded the appointed examiners for the 1961 Prize Essay Competition, and the Minutes for 13 April 1961 report that an essay title had been accepted. The Minutes of 12 October 1961 record that there were no entrants and that the examiners had been reappointed for 1962. The Minutes for 11 October 1962 record that the Society's Essay Competition had been awarded to Mr. Christopher Clay of Trinity College, Cambridge and that after 1963, the Competition would be a biennial event. The examiners for 1963 were also appointed.
In the report of the Anniversary Meeting in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 1962, p. 170, it was reported that there had been no candidate for the 1961 Essay Competition. In the report of the Anniversary Meeting in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1963, p.299, it was reported that the Prize Essay had been won by Mr Christopher Clay for his essay on "British Intervention in Malaya", and that in the future the award would be biennial with an award of £50.
