Singapore Philatelic Museum or Stamps Museum

Singapore Philatelic Museum

Presenting... *drum roll... *chang chang

The Singapore Philatelic Museum!!

(click to enter official website)

*clap clap!

The free admission on Hari Raya provided incentive for me to finally explore this museum. (I was intrigued by the word 'philatelic' when I first heard of the museum. I had to check the dictionary before I knew what was inside!)

The museum is surprisingly eventful with 6 ongoing changing exhibitions -

1. “Beijing Olympic Games” stamp display (Olympics)
   
   
2. Dragons, Treasures and Masterpieces (China)
   
   
3. Grand Prix Stamps (F1)
   
   
4. Ode to Our Heroes (Singapore)
   
   
5. Journey through the Land of Lotus (Vietnam)
   
   
6. A Rat's Tale (Rats)

and...

5 permanent collection which serves to introduce you to various aspects of Philately and also some of Singapore's culture -

1. Orange Room - Introduction to Philately
   
   
2. Purple Room - Stamp Design and Printing Techniques
   
   
3. Green Room - Famous Stamp Collectors
   
   
4. Room of Rarities
   
   
5. Heritage Room

Looking through the various exhibits, I came to appreciate the value of stamps. This seemingly insignificant and small item can in fact tell us so much about culture and history all over the world. The visuals that appear on them is actually also a form of art that I had never thought about before!

okok, hurry.
I want to share with you some of the things I saw!

A Rat's Tale

A Rat's Tale

Exhibition that is a tribute to the year of rats.

Exhibition wall

One could tell that the organisers had put in great effort to bring each exhibition to life. For this one, they made use of rats running along the walls in the museum to generate interest. Some of them even gave directions to lead visitors like me to the exbition. Others like the ones shown above simply showed playing rats.

Favourite Children's Book Animals stamp from USA

There were so many stamps from around the world that depicted rats! Many used famous cartoon characters from children books or cartoon like the ones above. Others also include Mickey, Minnie and Jerry (from Tom&Jerry). Go see!

Cartoon stamps from The Netherlands

Loved all the cute cartoon stamps on exhibit. My goodness, super cute. Imagine them on your letters. Definitely would brighten up your day if you receive one of these. I want that powerpuff *BAM stamp!!

Boy playing Zodiac Wheel of Fortune

For parents, it is definitely alright to bring your children to the museum. There are many games station in the museum to ensure that your child is never bored.

Mysterious chops

Actually, I also saw a couple of kids will some special booklets. Can't seem to find any information on the SPM website. But apparently, stamp-chops like this one is hidden all over the museum. The kids can follows clues on the booklet to find and collect all the stamps from the chops!

Dragons, Treasures and Masterpieces

Dragons, Treasures and Masterpieces


Long vertical Chinese stamps


Socialist stamps

Interesting to see the same kind of art for posters and stamps during that period. Just smaller that's all.

More socialist stamps

The main point is not the Mao.

I thought it was cool that in Chinese stamps, it is already for words to occupy the entire stamp. There are no pictures. This is is not that stark. At least we can say its calligraphy. Look at the next one:

3 cents postage stamp stamped with 1 cent value

Purely words! Interesting...

Wall paintings on stamps

Some religious influences here.

Child playing 'match the stamp with its location'

Another one of those games station! He was so engrossed he didn't care if I was taking a photo of him.

Journey through the Land of the Lotus

Vietnamese lanterns

This Vietnamese exhibit can be found both on the ground floor and the first floor. The hanging lanterns reminded me of my Hoi An trip 3 years ago! Just couldn't resist taking a photograph of them.

Exhibits on the second level

This particular exhibit had a lot of cultural items on display besides postage stamp. If you want to know Vietnamese culture, you can come and take a look.

Vietnamese mask

Look at the colours and its expression. I particularly like the moustache man in the middle, haha.

Heritage Room

Mama shop decal at the entrance of the Heritage Room


Inside Heritage Room

I like the room because I am allowed to touch anything I want! The room seems to draw you into the setting with realistic life size background pictures and real objects like the chinese drum that the children can't resist playing with. So once in a while you might think that the lion dance troupe is in the room until you realised the tune is a bit off -_-

Trying on clogs

Clogs are spreaded across the floor. I was quite surprise when this parent immediately tried them on when he entered. I think he wanted to really get into the atmosphere and feel what's it like in the past. Its really nice that he could! Once again, I appreciate what the museum has done.

Boy exploring cabinets

Rather than placing facts after facts on flat panels, this cupboard placed either text on the outside door and pictures on the inside or visa versa. It evokes curiosity in people and made the facts interesting to find out.

Room of Rarities

All the old stuff are kept here. It is quite nostalgic to be inside.

Stamp booklet vending machine


Royal Mail Chute

Click on the picture to read the history. I found it interesting.

Singapore 1st Anniversary of Independence stamps


Mailbox

I wouldn't have known I could open the door had it not been for a playful boy. So I decided to post this.

Other interesting things

Record stamps (from Bhutan, I think)

There is an area that shows all the unique stamps that were made, for e.g. felt fabric ones, scented ones or ones with gold foil.

For this one, you can put it in a player to play folk music!! SO SO SO COOL!

F1 stamps

Harry Potter stamps!

Yeah! so if you want to go to the museum, take note that it will be closed on 5th and 6th Oct 2008 for upgrading purposes. Other than that, it opens

Monday : 1 pm - 7 pm
Tuesday to Sunday : 9 am - 7 pm

Admission is free if...

you are a Friends of Stamps member.
(remember to show your card!)

or

If it's New Year's Day, 2nd day of Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Puasa, Deepavali, Christmas Day, National Day, and International Museum Day

And if not, admission charges are as follows:

$5.00 for Adult
$4.00 for Child (3-12 years)

And finally,

How to get there??

click here for map.

The museum is located on 23B Coleman Street. If you know where the Central Fire Station is, its easy to find your way there. It's just around the corner.

Car: I didn't see any carparks so it is advisable to park at Excelsior Hotel's or Penisular Shopping Centre's carpark.

Bus services: The nearest bus stop is just outside, in front of the Armenian Church. For that bus stop, you can take

(SBS Transit) 2, 12, 32, 33, 51, 62, 63, 80, 197
(SMRT) 61

Along the road, buses stop at alternate stops. So if you don't mind walking a little more, you could also stop outside the MICA building.

(SBS Transit) 124, 145, 147, 166, 174, 521
(SMRT) 190, 851

MRT: 10 minutes from City Hall or Clarke Quay station




If you have been to the museum, feel free to share your thoughts with us or send your photos to singaporeseeing @ gmail.com.