This special exhibition at the Singapore Philatelic Museum is the largest showcase of the country’s stamps and other philatelic artefacts.

 

The Singapore Philatelic Museum (SPM) celebrates Singapore’s 50^th anniversary with the launch of a special exhibition titled “The Singapore Journey: 50 Years Through Stamps”, which will be held from now till July 31, 2016. The exhibition will delight stamp collectors as well as others as it traces the birth of Singapore as an independent nation in 1965, the challenges that it faced in the areas such as public housing, industrialisation, defence and racial harmony; its achievements like the ‘City in a Garden’ concept and its world-class maritime and aviation hubs; as well as the development of sports, culture and the arts, that has bound the nation.

The exhibition is the largest showcase of Singapore stamps and other philatelic artefacts with over 240 philatelic items including stamps, first day covers, slogan cancellation covers, numismatic covers, postcards and presentation packs. Visitors will get to see for the first time the original artworks behind 66 of the stamps that had been issued by Singapore.

There will also be several rare items from Singapore’s Philatelic Archival Collection that will be on display including the original artwork of the first stamp to be issued by the Republic in 1966 and the printing plate of the 1999 stamp that features the first President of Singapore, Yusof bin Ishak. Other rare items also on display from SPM’s Collection include a printing error (missing perforations) of the 1991 “National Monuments Series” mini sheet of stamps featuring the Abdul Gaffoor Mosque.

The exhibition, which is free admission to Singaporeans and permanent residents, has several interactive multimedia features that were designed by a team of students from the School of Interactive & Digital Media, Nanyang Polytechnic. One such feature enables visitors to bring home a ‘stamp’, which they can download onto their mobile phones from a ‘vending machine’.

Tresnawati Prihadi, general manager of SPM, said: “Out storytelling is done through stamps. Though small in size, they speak volumes of stories from yesteryears, and our shared history and heritage. We hope the exhibits on display will bring back fond memories for many, and further inspire us to continue to do our best for our nation, just as the generations before us have done to make Singapore what she is today.”

The sponsor of this exhibition, Singapore Post, has also launched a limited edition “50 Stamps for 50 Years” Commemorative Folder in celebration of SG50. The folder will be available at all post offices at a special price of S$53.50 until September 30, 2015 (usual price: S$88).

 

** Catch one of the items – the schools savings scheme – that was curated from Time Traveller at the exhibition.

 

---