POSTCARD N.178 - SINGAPORE

Postcard sent on the 21st March, received on the 8th April 2025.

Postcard image: The Fullerton Hotel 

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Ravi sends me a postcard from Singapore, enlightening me with a piece of postal history. Bohomȧ  sthoothi, Ravindra!

What is today the Fullerton Hotel, a 5 star luxury hotel down in the centre of the Island/City State, was  in its inception, which dates back to 1928, Singapore's General Post Office, and there it functioned until March 1996.

Nevertheless, it is yet possible to post cards and letters, from the hotel, since Singapore Post opened a philatelic shop in the basement of the Hotel in 2020, from where Ravindra sent me the postcard.

The date stamp of Fullerton's post office can be seen obliterating the two "1st local" tariff stamps, part of a set of six ( (1st local; 45; 65; 80 cent; 2; 5 Dollars) issued on 12NOV2011on the occasion of the  20th World Orchid Conference, which took place in Singapore.

Each of the stamps in the set is illustrated with a beautiful watercolour of a specific orchid. The "1st local" tariff stamp Ravindra used on this postcard showcases the Vanda Miss Joaquim orchid, the national flower of Singapore, a naturally occurring hybrid, resulting from cross pollination between Papilionanthe teres (Vanda teres) and Papilionanthe hookeriana (Vanda hookeriana).