Category: Stamps

Greetings from YourSingapore! Today, Singapore Post will be releasing a set of 10 stamps featuring the YourSingapore logo. From greenery, food to a bed of roses, these simple elements form the shape of the island of Singapore.

Electrifying, romantic, inspiring, or just plain fun – come make Singapore your own at YourSingapore.com.

YourSingapore is the new destination brand of Singapore. The logo is made of colourful cubes placed in a haphazard manner, suggesting the different facets of Singapore as a tourist destination and the nature of Singapore’s evolvement. At YourSingapore.com, one can explore Singapore virtually and create a personalised itinerary for a unique experience. Share these encounters on the website as well!

This new brand was launched on 5 March 2010 by the Singapore Tourism Board as an evolution of Uniquely Singapore, which was Singapore’s destination brand from 2004 to 2009.

A complete set of 10 stamps (all 1st Local) costs $2.55, and are available in gummed-back sheets and self-adhesive booklets. The first day cover is priced at $3.40. As this is part of the ‘Greetings’ series, there will not be any presentation pack.

Date of Issue: 14 September 2011
Denominations: 1st Local (10 designs)
Stamp size: 40 mm x 30 mm
Perforation: 13
Paper: Unwatermarked
Printer: Secura Singapore Pte Ltd 

Images: Singapore Post

Today, Singapore Post released a set of four stamps to celebrate 46 years of independence for Singapore. This stamp issue features two residential neighbourhoods Joo Chiat and Taman Jurong – the transformation from the past ($1.10) to the present (50 cents).

Joo Chiat is a residential conservation area situated between Marine Parade and Geylang in the eastern coastal region of Singapore. Up to 1917, the area was known as Confederate Estate Road, until it was renamed after Chew Joo Chiat (1857 – 1926), a major land owner there. In July 1993, Joo Chiat was gazetted as a conservation district, resulting in the preservation of many of its old buildings. Today, the shophouses and bungalows in Joo Chiat still retain the typical architectural styles of the early 20th century. In February 2011, it was announced to be the first Heritage Town, a project by the National Heritage Board to promote community ownership of heritage.

Taman Jurong is one of the oldest residential precincts in Singapore. From a sleepy rural area mainly consisting of coastal swamplands fed by many small rivers meandering through the mangroves, jungles and wasteland, it has grown into a developed suburban area today. Taman Jurong was at the heart of industrial growth in the 1960s, providing housing for workers and simple entertainment opportunities. It also led to the development of today’s tourist attractions such as the Chinese Gardens and Japanese Gardens, and Jurong Bird Park.

Text and Graphics: Singapore Post

On 3 June 2011, Singapore Post released a se-tenant strip of four stamps featuring the oriental small-clawed otter. An endangered species that is native to Singapore, this mammal has been spotted at the northwestern coast, the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, and on offshore islands such as Pulau Ubin and Pulau Tekong. Often found in zoos, children are attracted to its playful and inquisitive character. The oriental small-clawed otter is regarded as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) in the Red List of Threatened Species.

Over a year ago, SingPost approached local artiste Edmund Chen to design this stamp series. The graphics designer is Wong Wui Kong. In this issue, there are two 50 cent stamps and two $1.10 stamps. The postmark for the first day cover is designed by Chen’s daughter Yixin, 11. A total of 1000 limited edition collectors’ sheet was also released.

Image: SingPost

Singapore Post will be introducing a new stamp cancelling datestamp from 8 June 2011. In a notice issued on 31 May 2011, the new C11 stamp cancelling will be used for the postmarking of mail items. The design of the stamp is similar to most round datestamps currently used, namely machines C1 to C7 and C9. The occasional octagonal cancellations are made by dot matrix printers C8 and C10.

Currently, there are no known methods of obtaining the C11 cancellation via normal post. On days with normal mail volume, it is observed that cancellations are often made by machines C1 to C4. However, the new cancelling machine is expected to be placed on a trial run, at least on 8 June, to assess its speed. If you would like to be among the first to obtain the C11 cancellation, you may try your luck by dropping a self-addressed envelope into any postbox by 5 pm on 8 June, or 7 pm for any postbox within the Central Business District.

Hawker centres are a common sight in Singapore, and they have become part and parcel of life for most Singaporeans. These food centres are conveniently located near public housing estates or transport hubs to serve the residents and commuters alike. They are often said to be highly symbolic of the Singapore lifestyle and culture, some citing it as a meeting place for social interaction and family bonding.

Stalls in hawker centres sell a wide variety of food, keeping prices low to attract more customers. In fact, one can easily find hidden treasures in the form of high-quality food at these places, with some highly recommended by television programmes. Unlike food courts, these hawker centres are not air-conditioned. Over the years, efforts have been made to enhance the aesthetics and ventilation.

Today, Singapore Post has released four stamps of 80 cents each, featuring the illustrations of East Coast Lagoon Hawker Centre, Newton Food Centre, Maxwell Road Hawker Centre and the Lau Pa Sat. These stamps were jointly designed by Leon Yeo and Jean Ng.

In the 19th century, hawkers of the various ethnic groups started selling food along streets due to its low starting capital. They slowly grew in numbers, Patrons often purchase from these makeshift stalls out of convenience. The high unemployment resulted from the Second World War has led to the surge in the number of hawkers. Concerns about the hygiene of the food were raised in the late 1960s, leading to the introduction of policies to curb the growth of these street hawkers. In 1971, the government started building hawker centres to relocate these street hawkers into a more hygienic environment. By the mid 1980s, over 140 hawker centres were built across the country. In 2001, the Hawker Centres Upgrading Programme was introduced to enhance facilities. While maintaining the unique flavours of these iconic structures, improvements have been made to give them a new lease of life.

Adapted from article by Singapore Post, Images by Singapore Post

This morning, I chanced upon this Singapore 10-cent revenue stamp while looking through my old collection. A revenue stamp is often used to collect taxes on documents and licences. Businesses would purchase these stamps from the government, and stick them onto the document, such as contracts and agreements which can be tendered in court. Documents which are unstamped may therefore be deemed invalid by the government.

To prevent the reuse of such revenue stamps, they would then be cancelled, often using a simple pen stroke, using an inked stamp, or punching a hole. Higher denominations may include security features due to their high value, in order to prevent counterfeiting.

In Singapore, stamp duty is often imposed on documents relating to properties and shares by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, more commonly known as IRAS. Today, electronic stamping has replaced these physical stamps in most countries, including Singapore.

It seems that there is not much information on Singapore’s revenue stamps online. If you would like to discuss more about these revenue stamps or would like to share pictures of your revenue stamp collection, feel free to leave your comment below.

And lastly, if you have not e-filed your income tax, remember to do so at the IRAS website by 18 April!

On 13 April 2011, Singapore Post released the low value definitive stamps for the ‘Pond Life’ series. This series aims to showcase the detailed and vivid images of various pond creatures, which is said to ‘give a glimpse beneath the water’s surface of life on a pond’. There are a total of ten denominations in today’s stamp issue.

Two plants – the water lily and water hyacinth – were featured on the 1st Local and 2nd Local denominations respectively. The water lily has round leaves and fragrant flowers that lasted only for a few days, while the water hyacinth with lavender to pink coloured flowers with six petals is often found in water catchment areas.

Other creatures featured include the white-collared kingfisher (5c), diving beetle (20c), common redbolt (30c), ornate coraltail (45c), black marsh terrapin (50c), white-breasted waterhen (55c), common greenback (65c) and common toad (80c).

This issue was designed by Eric Kong, and was printed by rotogravure. If you were to pick up these stamps, you would find that the drawings of the flowers and animals printed on them are coated with a shiny coat of reflective ink. For this issue, note the slight variation in the perforation at the top and bottom edges.

One design defect would be that the denomination is printed in a small fanciful font at the bottom corner of the stamp, which may unintentionally inconvenience users. I might say that the value of the stamp is rather tiny and unobvious, especially when it is white in colour. If you happen to get hold of one of these stamps sometime soon, do take a look. The mark for the first issue ‘2011A’ is printed in black, at the bottom right corner of the stamp. Now that’s even smaller, collectors may soon be using a magnifying lens to detect any new reprints.

Two months back on 16 February, a set of high-value definitive stamps on Pond Life were released. They include the common tilapia ($1.10), pond wolf spider ($2), water skaters ($5) and water scorpion ($10).