Categories
Singapore

Youreka

Postcard

It’s a bit late, but there is still one day left. Yahoo! Singapore is having some treasure hunt around their website. By uncovering the clues provided in the boxes at http://www.youreka.com.sg, you can find the coloured Tickets which are hidden on Yahoo! Singapore, Yahoo! Singapore News, Yahoo! Singapore Messenger and Yahoo! Singapore Mail. All you need is a Yahoo! ID in order to claim a special reward, which I shall not reveal. Here’s the hint which I used: Check out the latest news and find the Red Ticket!

Youreka

When you uncover this clue, just click on the yellow ‘Take Me There’ button. You will see the button straight away. However, redemption has to be made either today or tomorrow from 1300 hours to 2100 hours at the adidas Flagship Store at The Cathay, Level 2. However, do take note that it is the one at Dhoby Ghaut MRT, not Cathay Cineleisure at Somerset MRT!

Gift

Categories
Stamps

Singapore-Indonesia Joint Issue

The stamp launch for the Singapore-Indonesia Joint Issue was held this morning at Club Islander, Sentosa, Singapore. The theme of this stamp issue is tourist attractions. For Singapore, the selected attractions are the Merlion (65c) and Sentosa ($1.10). For Indonesia, the featured attractions are Singa Ambara Raja Statue (1st local) and Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (80c).

Exhibition

The Merlion is a symbol of Singapore with the head of a lion and the body of a fish, combining Temasek and Singapura, which means sea town and lion city respectively. Sentosa, which means peace and tranquillity in Malay, is an island resort in Singapore. The Singa Ambara Raja Statue shows a winged lion bolding a big corn in one of its front leg and is the landmark of Singaraja City in northern Bali. Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (or Beautiful Indonesian Miniature Park) is a park in eastern Jarkata where visitors can experience the rich culture and architecture.

Mr Wilson Tan and Mr Kemal Haripurwanto

Stamp Launch

The stamp launch started at half past eleven, where guests were entertained with a cultural dance. Following which, the stamp was officially launched with the striking of a gong.

Autographed Cover

Anticlockwise from top: (1) Kemal Haripurwanto, Minister Counsellor, Indonesian Embassy, (2) I Ketut Mardjana, CEO, Indonesian Post, (3) Tata Sugiarta, Designer (PosKreatif, Indonesia), (4) Andy Koh Boon Peng, Designer (Singapore)

Categories
Banknotes

Square Dots on Money

Grab a $10 polymer note. On the reverse of the banknote, you can find the word ‘Sports’ on the bottom-left corner of the note. However, you may notice a square dot or even two below this word, with a length of exactly 1 millimetre. Sorry, this does not work for paper notes!

Ten Dollar Square Dots

Notes with one square dot have been circulating since January 2008. Earlier this month, notes with two square dots entered circulation. If you have not seen them, try withdrawing from selected Automated Teller Machines (ATM). Many collectors remain puzzled about the presence of these dots.

Similarly, if you have $2 polymer notes, there may be a single square dot located below the word ‘Education’ located on the reverse. Every note in a stack of 100 mint banknotes obtained from the bank has the same number of square dots, if any.

According to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), this is a new security feature which has been introduced recently for the Central Bank to authenticate the note and is not meant for public knowledge. In addition, there may be other shapes, such as circles, stars or triangles.

In my opinion, the serial number may play a part in determining the pattern found on the note. Just like having a suffix after an NRIC number (which can be calculated from the prefix and number) or the last alphabet of a car registration plate (which can be also calculated from the prefix and number), the pattern may be derived from the serial number. However, a larger sample of serial numbers and their corresponding patterns are required to confirm this hypothesis. Each batch of banknotes may have a different pattern.

However, it appears that the prefix alone does not play a part in the pattern. I have two notes with the same prefix but with a different pattern. The note with serial number starting 2GN117 has one dot, while another note with serial number starting 2GN537 has two dots.

These new polymer notes are printed by Orell Füssli Zurich (OFZ), Switzerland.

Categories
Stamps

Singapore National Monuments

The four stamps below were issued in 1978 with a value of 10 cents each, showcasing selected national monuments: Armenian Church, Hajjah Fatimah Mosque, Sri Mariamman Temple and Thian Hock Keng Temple. All national monuments featured on this set of stamps were gazetted on 6 July 1973.

National Monuments (1974)

Armenian Church
60 Hill Street, Singapore 179366

Built in a British neo-classical style, the Armenian Church is the oldest Christian church in Singapore. This church was one of the exhibition sites used during the inaugural Singapore Biennale in 2006.

Hajjah Fatimah Mosque
4001 Beach Road, Singapore 199584

Hajjah Fatimah Mosque was designed by colonial architect John Turnball Thomson and was completed in 1846. The design was based on a mixture of local Islamic and European architecture.

Sri Mariamman Temple
244 South Bridge Road, Singapore 058793

Being the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore, it has rich historical and architectural value and is a tourist attraction in Singapore. The main feature of the temple is its gopuram (the entrance tower).

Thian Hock Keng Temple
158 Telok Ayer Street, Singapore 068613

Thian Hock Keng Temple is one of the oldest and most important Hokkien temple in Singapore built in 1839. Chinese immigrants visit the temple to thank the Goddess of the Sea for their safe voyage.

Categories
Stamps

Postage Due

When one forgets to insert a CashCard (or one with insufficient stored value) into the In-Vehicle Unit (IU) when driving through an Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantry, he or she will be charged an administration fee of $10, to be payable within 24 hours, on top of the amount payable for the original ERP charges.

ERP Gantry

Similarly, when one forgets to affix a postage stamp (or affixed an insufficient amount) on the envelope when sending a letter, the recipient of the letter will be charged an administration fee of $1, to be payable immediately when someone comes knocking on the door at his apartment located in Bras Basah, shouting, ‘Postman!’

Holding up the letter, he said, ‘Meant for you. Can you verify if this is your address? The sender forgot to affix a postage stamp on the letter, so I am collecting the fine from you. It would be $1.25 according to this Postage Due Label.’

The recipient pays the fine, closes the door, picks up his mobile phone and calls the sender.

‘You send me that letter, forget to put stamp! Just now, a while ago, the postman knocked on my door and asked me to pay a fine.’

The sender replies, ‘I am so sorry, I must have forgotten about it and dropped it into the posting box. I will go over to your place and compensate you the amount, how much is it?’

‘Never mind about that, it is $1.25 only. When you come over, you pay for ERP charges. If you forget your CashCard, you pay a fine. When you park your car downstairs, you pay for parking fees. If you forget to display a parking coupon, you also pay a fine. This car park is famous for parking wardens appearing many times a day.’

‘Okay, when we meet in future, I will treat you lunch at The Restaurant.’

However, when one forgets to write the recipient’s address, writes it incorrectly or if the recipient rejects the letter, it will be returned to the sender with the postage due label, as well as many other labels and markings, seven of them in total for the envelope below.

Envelope with Postage Due Labels

If the recipient lives in another part of Singapore as marked out by the delivery zones, there will be more labels pasted on the envelope when the letter is returned to the sender. There seven delivery bases are located in Ayer Rajah, Bukit Panjang, Jurong, Kallang, Loyang, Upper Serangoon Road and Woodlands.

‘Knock, knock!’

‘Who’s there?’

‘Postman!’

‘Postman who?’

‘Psst… Meant for you. Can you verify if this is your address? You forgot to affix a postage stamp on the letter, so I am collecting the fine from you. It would be $1.25 according to this Postage Due Label.’