The story of Singapore's link with orchids began more than a century ago, when the first orchids exchange programme between Singapore and other countries such as the Philippines, Australia and England was recorded in 1875. The successful work of The Singapore Botanic Gardens in cultivating man-made orchid hybrids in sterile media led to subsequent active breeding of many fine hybrids and made Singapore renown as the world's foremost producer of high-quality Aranda and Mokara hybrids. Bigger plans for the industry are in store. By 1995, Singapore aims to boost the industry from its current yearly yield of some $20 million to about $70 million.

Given Singapore's strong international standing in the orchid industry and her plans to achieve even greater strides by 1995, what can be a more appropriate theme than orchids for Singapore '95, Singapore's very first world stamp exhibition in 1995? From this year till 1995, a gutter pair of orchids and a miniature sheet will be released each year under the theme, Singapore '95 Orchids Series. Each stamp and each miniature sheet in this Series have been designed to project Singapore not just as a supplier of high-quality orchids but also as an exotic tropical island with varied attractions. The miniature sheets promise different colourful insights into and impressions of Singapore.

The stamps chosen to launch this Series are Vanda Miss Joaquim, Singapore's national flower and Dendrobium Anocha, a beautiful hybrid which won Singapore a High Commendation Certificate in 1976. As with all the stamps in this Series, the Singapore '95 exhibition logo appears on the gutter between every pair of stamps and on the miniature sheet. The stamps in this Series are unique in that they are the first Singapore stamps to have a design on the gutter. The previous issues of gutter pair stamps had no gutter design. All the stamps, miniature sheets and the exhibition logo are designed by Chua Ban Har and printed by Leigh Mardon.

Singapore Botanic Gardens forms the design for the miniature sheet of the first issue in this Series. This again was a deliberate choice in view of the significance of the work and role of the Gardens in putting Singapore on the world map of orchid research and development. Apart from this, the Gardens itself is rich in history, a beautiful showcase of tropical vegetation and an excellent retreat. The miniature sheet details bear this out with the artist's illustrations of the Gardens' footpaths, tranquil lakes, 19th Century bandstand, lush greenery and rich hues. This miniature sheet is a hint of the design concept and details of the other miniature sheets in this Series.

Orchids galore is the distinguishing feature of the ancillary products of this issue and all the remaining issues of the Series. Chua Ban Har uses the rich colours of the Vanda Miss Joaquim and Dendrobium Anocha to create the background colours for the first day covers, outer panels of the presentation packs and posters. The colour of the first day covers is the colour of Vanda Miss Joaquim petals while the presentation packs and posters have colourful panels of orchids enhanced by the greenery of leaves. The datestamp design is a simple graphic statement of the Dendrobium Anocha.