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The newly renovated museum. Image source: Children’s Museum Singapore
A couple of days ago, the Singapore Philatelic Museum (SPM) has announced on their Facebook page that they are officially renamed as “Children’s Museum Singapore”. It came as no surprise to us philatelists, since the announcement about the closure for renovation and renaming was made on March 2019, before Covid-19 was even a thing. However, knowing that the newly rebranded museum will come into fruition by the end of 2022 and the permanent disappearance of the SPM is truly saddening to us. I shall share some pictures of my tour at the SPM for memory’s sake. For some strange reason, I didn’t take a photo of the building. So, I am going to share the first picture that was taken by one of my stamp dealers. Terribly sorry if my photos are in poor quality, they were shot with a potato camera phone.
The glorious old facade of the Singapore Philatelic Museum. Imagine source: CS Philatelic Agency
No idea where this post box that was situated outside of the SPM went to during the renovation. I hope it went to one of the Philatelic Stores for preservation.
They are a miniature form of artwork that not only tell stories of a country, but they also help tell your stories to people around the world when you send postcards or written mail. They are also a source of great pleasure for many collectors.
Wished I could have brought one of these lighted boxes home as a souvenir.
Why can’t the SPM be a Children’s Museum? They have hopscotch!
Showing would-be enthusiasts the essential tools of the hobby.
An old scooter which postal workers rode to deliver mail. It has the old Singapore Telecom paint colours.
Exhibit of Zodiac (Year of The Snake) stamps from around the world.
Cute letterboxes, normally found outside of colonial bungalow homes.
Glow-in-the-dark mini-sheet.
The Simpsons FDCs and stamp sheet.
Old postcards used in Singapore.
Bi-weekly airmail services from London to Singapore.
Star Wars stamps and toys exhibition at SPM.
Mail addressed to SPM affixed with stamps of Star Wars characters.
Old posting boxes.
Special stamps from Swarovski, embedded with crystals.
Philatelic history of Singapore.
Display of unique stamps.
Singapore is a tiny island nation with not much land to build as many things as we would love to, I totally understand that as a Singaporean. That is why I wasn’t angry when the National Heritage Board choose to convert the SPM into a Children’s Museum; I was just sad that it had to go. Interest in Philately as a hobby has also been in a steady decline since the advent of the Internet. People relied on e-mail instead of sending snail mail and that has made stamps somewhat obsolete. It’s an “out of sight, out of mind” kind of situation. Since the uptake on stamp-collecting isn’t high, I guess we have to keep up with the times by changing the SPM into something else in land-scarce Singapore, something that people actually go to visit frequently. There is still no sneak preview of what the new Children’s Museum is about. So, let’s stay tuned! I will definitely go back and visit again once it reopens at the end of 2022. I will make an updated post here once I have made my rounds.
Here’s a goodbye to the Singapore Philatelic Museum…so long and thanks for all the fond memories!
At the end of the day, everything has its own exit.
Update no.1 (12/12/21)
Here’s a video from Channel News Asia covering what the Children’s Museum Singapore is about.
Today, 15 February 2022, marks the 80th Anniversary of the Fall of Singapore to the Japanese in World War II. 15th of February is also designated as Total Defence Day, a national policy that encompasses the six pillars of defence - military, civil, economic, social, psychological and digital. Every year on this day since 1998, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) would sound the Public Warning System to mark the day when Singapore fell to the Japanese during WW2 and the importance of taking charge of our own defence; the sirens can be heard from all parts of Singapore. This is going to be a lengthy post. So, before I continue rambling any further, please allow me to share an interesting new exhibition that’s happening at the National Museum of Singapore. An exhibition called “Dislocations: Memory & Meaning of the Fall of Singapore” which showcases artefacts from the Japanese Occupation, will be on display from now till 29 May 2022 to mark the 80th Anniversary of the Fall of Sin...
Syonan-to was the name given to Singapore during the Japanese Occupation, it means “Light of the South”. Story time! This is a Prisoner-of-War postcard sent to a certain Mr. E.G.Hebditch in Syonan-To, the name given to Singapore during the Japanese Occupation. Now note that this person, E.G.Hebditch, was not a military personnel but a British civilian because of the salutation "Mr.' and not a military rank was stated. That is why the postcard was addressed to a civilian internment camp in Changi Prison. The military POWs and civilians were kept separately inside the camp. Note the red Japanese inspection seal on the front of the postcard. Mr. Hebditch stayed in Singapore at a time when many British civilians had already evacuated the island before war came to its shores. That is why I found this postcard interesting and did some more digging. A simple message from the family could mean the whole world to a PoW. This postcard was sent on 20/1/1944 by his wife, who was in Sout...
The Royal Astronomical Society will be holding a public lecture about astronomy on stamps on the 18 January 2022 at 1pm GMT, which is 9pm Singapore time. The speaker is Ms. Katrin Raynor Evans, she's a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society as well as a member of the Astro Space Stamp Society, which I am a member of, too! Come join in the fun and learn more about astronomy and philately at the same time! This is an online event, here's the link for registration: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ras-january-public-lecture-2022-katrin-raynor-evans-tickets-224077892007?fbclid=IwAR0aEKYT99s1SyyWvylTTY6aKYqJpNxg31CxJdYVW1bkDASoxddhMPNcTF0 p.s. Thanks to my friend, Dave, for alerting me about this event. I would have missed it if not for you. Update 11/1/22 Had a wonderful Zoom session with the presenter Ms. Katrin Evans, who was very well-articulated with the subject matter. It is not easy to merge the two subjects of Astronomy and Philately and condense them to a point ...
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