Saturday, February 12, 2011

Read: Singapore Stamps: Anniversaries & Milestones


Title: Singapore Stamps: Anniversaries & Milestones
Authors: Tan Wee Kiat, Ivan Chew and Ong Yew Ghee
Year of publication: 2010
Design & Production: Print & Print Pte Ltd
Book Sponsor: OSIM International Ltd
Book Advisors: Ruth Wong, Amy Sobrielo, Victor Koo
ISBN: 978-981-08-6278-7

Many thanks to Dr Tan Wee Kiat for his generosity of a gift of one of his latest publications, "Singapore Stamps: Anniversaries & Milestones". I knew him through Yesterday.sg. I have a lot of respect for this wise and humble gentleman who has published several books with various authors so as to share knowledge with others, especially children.

I had just finished reading this book a day ago even though I had first started reading pages from it about a month ago. I had taken a month's break from reading this book as I had other books to read.

This book was written for Upper Primary and Lower Secondary school students who are from 10 to 14 years old. It was an accessible book to read. I might have taken about an hour to read it if I could read it in one single sitting.

This book contains some interesting facts and findings about the stories of selected Singapore stamps that were based on the theme of Anniversaries & Milestones. From this book, I have learnt more about the milestones of Teacher Education in Singapore. I have also learnt about the Teachers' Training College that was set up in 1950 to meet the demands for teachers at the end of the Second World War. The Teachers' Training College subsequently became the Institute of Education in 1973 and eventually evolved to become the National Institute of Education of 1991.

Reading about the milestones of my own country and the various local establishments was quite stimulating for me.

Here are some of the new things that I have learnt from this very book:
- The Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) was started by the British colonial government in 1877. It was part of the postal sevices.
- The Universal Postal Union (UPU) was formed in 1874.
- The Singapore Metrication Board was formed in Dec 1970. Prior to 1970, a few other systems of measurement were used in Singapore. Today, the metric system is the widely used system.

In addition, the book was a good revision for me for I was reminded that Singapore achieved self-rule on 3 Jun 1959.

This is quite an accessible book to read for youths age 10 to 14, especially those who like collecting stamps.

*****
Online posts on this book:
Thank you for the Stamp Book - Singapore Stamps: Anniversaries & Milestones by Second Shot.
My first published work by yg.
Book about Singapore Stamps by Thimbuktu.

Also see ReTRIeVIA

2 comments:

eastcoastlife said...

I used to collect stamps but have slowed down in recent years due to lack of snail mail. haha....

oceanskies79 said...

I miss the personal snail mails at times.