Embroidered Stamp - Pigeon Orchid definitives

I finally managed to get some sets of the embroidered flower definitives. Here's SingPost's description of this issue. The set was out since early May but I couldn't find time to queue at the post office. The queue during lunch time at the post office could get quite long. So here's how the collector's set looks like.

Here's a closer look at the embroidery where the flowers look 'special'. The face value of the embroidered stamp is $5, but I'm sure no one will really use it for postage purpose. I wonder how many collectors' sets did SingPost issue.

Unlike the earlier beaded stamp issue by SingPost, embroidered stamps have been around for some time. Swiss Post started it in June 2000, and Austria did so too in year 2005 and 2008. Nonetheless I think collectors do welcome such innovative issues from the Philatelic Bureau that add more fun to the collection.

2 new additions to the Flora & Fauna Definitives Stamps

SingPost has announced two new additions to the 'Flora & Fauna' definitives that were released in 2007. The two additions will be made available from 6 May onwards. The details of the two additions could be found on SingPost's website.

The additions are two stamps of first local, featuring the Blue Pea Vine and Pigeon Orchid. I suspect that the additions are due to the lack of flora representatives in the 2007 definitives. The descriptions provided at the SingPost website commented that additions were added for variety. Take a look at the 2007 release, and we could see that only the 1st Local and 2nd Local are flora (Frangipanni and the Torch Ginger), so maybe they added another two flora for balance. It is good that they engage the same Designer, Wong Wui Kong, as the 2007 definitive series for consistency in the overall designs.

It will be nice if they can include all definitives together, so that when we read the yearbook, we have a complete picture of the stamps descriptions. Oh well, I guess such additions also add a bit of variations to stamp collecting.

Singapore '95 Orchids Theme

The theme selected for the World Stamp Exhibition '95 was Orchids. A series of 5 sets of the orchids stamp and miniature sheets was launched. The orchids and background for the sheets are as follow:

• Vanda Miss Joaquim & Dendrobium - Singapore Botanic Gardens
• Dendrobium Sharifah Fatimah & Phalaenopsis Shim Beauty - Singapore Skyline
• Vanda Sumatrana & Phalaenopsis Ambabilis - architectural scene of 1920s
• Paphiopedilum victoria-regina & Dendrobium smillieae - local fruits
• Vanda Marlie Dolera & Vanda limbata - illustrated impression of Singapore Zoo

There is another variation of the 5th set with Sentosa attractions as the background. This variant has two more sub-variants, and the sub-variants have serial numbers since they are limited runs.

These stamps and minisature sheets were designed by Mr Chua Ban Har. I have one of the sets (should have another one, but it is somewhere lost in the albums).

Orchids stamps are nothing new to Singapore, since orchids is the national flower (Vanda Miss Joaquim to be exact). At the tourists attraction shops, we could find many of these flowers immortalised in resins. Since 1962, Singapore already has stamps featuring orchids (see below).