In conjunction with Singapore World Stamp Championship in 2004.

Singapore will be hosting the World Stamp Championship to be held under the auspices of the Federation of Internationale de Philatelie (FIP) from 28 August to 1 September 2004. Making the event even more significant, the year 2004 will also mark the 150th year since the first use of the first postage stamp in Singapore, in 1854.

The World Stamp Championship will be similar in scale to the hugely successful World Stamp Exhibition in 1995 and the Patron of the Championship will be the President of Singapore. More information on this event will be shared with you through this bulletin at a later date.

In conjunction with the 2004 World Stamp Championship, a series of stamps under the theme, Singapore, A Global City, will be issued. To support the funding of this mega event, the Stamp Advisory Committee has agreed to an additional stamp theme from 2002 to 2004.

Under Singapore, A Global City stamp theme, a total of 6 stamps and 15 souvenir sheets will be produced. The entire series will be issued over 13 months from 2002 to 2004 and comprises 3 series.

Each series carries a sub theme. In each series, there is a set of 2 stamps and 5 souvenir sheets. The sub themes are:

Series 1: Leisure & Lifestyle

Singapore's Vision for the future is to create a cosmopolitan city that attracts the world class companies and best talents in the all areas - trade and finance, commerce, education, sports and arts. It is a vision to transform itself to a Knowledge-based and innovation driven society, capable to nurturing a pool of talents and entrepreneurs. A place where Singapore-based companies including multinational companies, government linked and local enterprises will strive and prosper.

This vision of a global-city extends to the social and cultural aspects of transforming Singapore into one of the world's finest cities - exciting and lively, energetic and creative. A place where one will have the freedom to experiment, to explore and to innovate, to pursue dreams and to be different.

In line with its cosmopolitan character and international outlook, the first series of the stamp issue on "Singapore, A Global City" kicks off with two stamps illustrating the sub-theme "Leisure and Lifestyle" and five souvenir sheets featuring global companies associated with it. The five companies selected are American Express, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Reader's Digest and Swatch.