Olympic postmark - Singapore

Joseph schooling made Singaporeans proud by bagging the first ever Olympic Gold medal in the 100m men's butterfly stroke at the recently held Rio Olympics 2016.

He also made an Olympic record by finishing it in 50.39 seconds.  To honour this hero SingPost (Singapore post) introduced two commemorative Postmark designs.

I am lucky enough to get one design featuring a gold medal with the title "Singapore's 1st Olympic Gold", today.  Thanks Joel for sending this beautiful cover with the postmark.

The other post mark features the record time inside the timer.

Hope I will be lucky to get this one too.

Joint issue stamps: India - Singapore

On November 24th 2015, Singapore Prime Minister Mr. Lee Hsien Loong along with Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi jointly issued 2 stamps ( issued by both Sing Post and India Post - a joint issue) one featuring Istana (The Singapore President's house) and the other featuring the Rashtrapati Bhavan (The Indian President's house) on Mr. Modi's official visit in Singapore marking the 50th anniversary establishment of diplomatic relations between Singapore and India.

Recently I received a beautiful cover from Singapore from my friend  Lee Shiou Ming. She has used the stamps beautifully on cover in such a way that on the left hand corner is the India's version of Rashtrapati Bhavan and Istana and in the right hand corner Singapore's version but the order is the other way around- Istana first and then Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Thanks a Ton, Shiou Ming for such a wonderful cover.

Odd World - Singapore

My Singapore collection of Odd/Unique stamps

Fan-shaped stamps

Singapore 2016

Commerce & Industry

Colour glitters

Covers from Singapore World stamp Exhibition

World Stamp Exhibition was recently held in Singapore from 14th of August to 19th.  I am happy that I have received 3 covers from the Exhibition venue.  The first two covers were sent by Shiou Ming of Singapore.  The first has the Exhibition special cancellation and the second one with the normal cancellation done at the venue.  Same stamps on covers but with different cancellation. That was really thoughtful Shiou Ming, Thank You.

The below cover sent by Mr.Joel of Malaysia, This year (2015) Singapore celebrates its 50th Year of Independence.  SG 50 is the Special cancellation for that occasion.  The special Exhibition cancellation is on a Kingfisher stamp, since it is on the dark background it is not so visible on the scan. Thanks a lot Joel.

15th January : Pongal, Harvest Festival

Indian Economy is heavily dependent on Agriculture.  To thank the Gods and our farmers who have helped us, we celebrate harvest festivals all over India in various names.

Pongal is the harvest festival of Tamil Nadu.  It usually occurs mid-January.  It is a four-day festival. The first day is called "Bhogi".  On this day people use to clean their houses, burn the old unwanted things, and buy new things to mark the beginning of a new life. The second day is the real "Pongal".  On this day people say thanks to the Sun God and prepare a dish called "Sweet Pongal" and "Salt Pongal".  Pongudhal (Pongal) is a Tamil Word meaning flourishing/boiling.  People boil fresh milk in a mud or Copper vessel. While it is boiling they chant "Happiness should overflow in our life like this overflowing boiling milk" and "Pongalo pongal, Pongalo Pongal" and with this milk only they prepare sweet pongal.  The third day is to say thanks to the animals which helped on the field and is called "Maattu Pongal".  Usually, Cow and Buffalos are decorated well on this day and they worship those animals.  The fourth day is called "Kaanum pongal",  On this day relatives get to gather in some commonplace like beach, park and have their dinner together.  "Kaanum" means "Meeting".

Few other harvest festivals in India are Sankranti, Baisakhi, Bihu, Hareli, Nuakhai. 

The first stamp is issued by India Post in the year 2006 and the second one is issued by Singapore Post in the year 2008.

9th August : Independence Day of Singapore

Singapore, a former British Colony, is one of the four Asian Tigers or Asian Dragon (other tigers are Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong).  During World War II, the Japanese annexed Singapore from 1942 to 1945.  Once again in the year 1945 Singapore came under British control. In 1959 British Government granted Self-Government to Singapore.  In 1963 Singapore merged with Malaysian Federation. unfortunately this lasted only for 2 years. On 9th August 1965 Singapore become Independent country.

In 2013, Singapore celebrated its 48th Independence Day and Sing Post has issued the below special miniature sheet on this occasion.  

The paper on which it is printed is supposed to be 'phosphor coated' with hotstamping. 

31st August: Malaya (Malaysia) Independence Day

On 31st August 1957 Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia) got its independence from British  Rule. It is celebrated as Hari Merdeka.  Hari Merdeka is the short form of "Hari Kemerdekaan".  Merdeka means Independence or freedom in the Malay language.

On 16th September 1963, the Federation of Malaya included three new states, Singapore, Sabah, and Sarawak, and got its new name Malaysia.  After two years, Singapore left the federation on 9th August 1965.

From 1970 onwards themes have been introduced for the celebration of National Day.  The first theme was "Muhibah dan Perpaduan" which means "Love and Unity". 

The Indian connection:  The Malay and Indonesian word "Merdeka" is derived from the Sanskrit word "Maharddhika" meaning "Rich, Prosperous and Powerful".

The handing over of independence to the Federation of Malaya was witnessed by many foreign dignitaries including the then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru.

The below stamp was issued in 1957 on the occasion of Independence.

3rd June: Singapore State National Day

Every one knows that the Republic of Singapore's National Day is on 9th August.  But briefly, between 1960 - 1963 the State of Singapore celebrated its National Day on 3rd June.

"State" and "Republic" are different.  Republic means that country is fully independent and country itself is responsible for the conduct of its policies and affairs.  State means that country is fully or partially under the control of another country.

Singapore was under British rule and British Government granted Self-Government to Singapore in 1959.  Still Queen Elizabeth II was the head of defense and foreign affairs.  On 3rd June 1960 their first National Day stamps were issued.  Below is the stamp issued in 3rd June 1961 for National Day celebration.  The stamp has 4 hands clasped together on the map of Singapore to signify the national unity.

Then Singapore became part of Malaysia from 1963 - 1965.  On 9th August 1965 Singapore became Independent and Republic country.

People At Work: Post Men and Women

The concept of mail - conveying a message from the sender to receiver in a written form - dates back to the invention of writing itself.  Even though Egyptian employed Pharos to send and receive written documents throughout Egypt, Romans are the ones who started proper postal system under Augustus Caesar.
At first mails were send through friends, merchants and native people.  After the development proper mail service first they were delivered by the couriers appointed by the local authorities.  They run with the mail from one place to another at regular interval of time.  Then horses, mules, camels and stage coaches are introduced.  Along with the increase in population several Post offices formed and the post man, post box, delivery system everything took several  faces.

The concept of community mail boxes is prevalent in many parts of the world.  Due to houses been spread over large area, mail boxes were installed in a common place.

 

The process of sorting mail has evolved over the years.  The concept of zip codes or PIN codes play a key role.  With the advent of Bar codes and computers most new mail gets sorted using OCR and Bar Codes.

Below you can see a Swiss stamp depicting a mobile sorting facility.

 

 

In olden days mail was mainly delivered by Post man waling long distances in rural terrain.  

The uniform worn by postmen and women has changed over time. And so has the look over the post boxes. Below you can see the 'pillar post box' which is a common feature of most of the erstwhile British Empire.

The uniform of the early postmen of India was very distinctive, with their unique head-gear and cummerband (waist-band). While the mail was delivered by hand, the long distances between postal offices were traversed by road on animal drawn carts.

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As time went by, the mode of transport moved to cycles and then other motorized vehicles. Till today, post men/women use cycles for local delivery of post in India.

    

The importance of mail and it's reach can be gauged by the picture on the Bangladeshi stamp below. We can see people queuing up to avail postal services from a mobile post office.