Singapore Post

Singapore Post Limited (SingPost) is Singapore's designated Public Postal Licensee which provides domestic and international postal services. It also provides logistics services in the domestic market and global delivery services. SingPost also offers products and services including postal, agency and financial services through its post offices, Self-service Automated Machines (SAMs) and vPOST, its internet portal.

Brief History

Postal Services were available in Singapore since the island was founded by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819. Initially, mail services were handled by the military authorities and then by the Master Attendant in 1823. The volume of mail was very small in those days and letters were collected and delivered from a single mail office. The Post Office, as it was then known, shared a room with the Master Attendant’s Marine Office and the clerk to the Registrar of Import and Export. The whole establishment of the post office in the 1830s consisted of one European clerk, one local writer and a peon.

To cope with the increasing volume of mail, the Post Office, then known as the Singapore Post Office, later General Post Office, was moved in 1854 to its own building near the Town Hall by the side of the Singapore River. Although it was more spacious, there were frequent complaints regarding its location. The Commercial Square (business sector) was on the opposite side of the river, so going to the Post office was inconvenient as one had to cross the river by boat. Of course duckings were not unknown! Finally, after 1856, a footbridge was constructed across the river and a toll of ¼ cent was levied.

As trade flourished in Singapore and both postal and marine traffic grew heavier, the Post Office was separated from the Marine Office and it became a separate department in October 1858. During the period 1819 and 1858, letters for posting had to be handed in at the Post Office. No postage stamps were used but a register was kept of all letters received at the Post Office and of the names of sailing ships on which they were conveyed.

Stamped receipts were also given for all letters sent to the Post Office for despatch. For the convenience of the residents, a register was kept of their individual postage accounts on the understanding that all postage due would be regularly settled every month. The first postage stamps were introduced for payment of postage only in 1854. In the early days, the flagstaff at Government Hill (now Fort Canning) was eagerly watched as flying of a flag at daylight, or the firing of a gun at night, signified the arrival of a ship with mail. This infused new life into the quiet community.

On receipt of letters from incoming ships, the Post Office sorters would proceed to register alphabetically all the letters before sending them out through the postmen for delivery. Postal delivery services by means of bullock cart, horse carriage or on foot, were first restricted to the town area. Posting boxes were later installed in the town area for the posting of mail which were then collected by horse-drawn mail coaches.

In 1873, a new General Post office was built on the site of the former Fort Fullerton, a location which was much nearer to the commercial centre of the town. However, the British Government failed to foresee the needs of the future, with the result that the building had to be replaced by another on practically the same site. The new General Post Office was completed in 1885, three years after approval was obtained.

The General Post Office was closed on 23 April 1921. All the equipment were moved to a building on the recently reclaimed land at Collyer Quay, and staff worked at this temporary post office during the construction of Fullerton Building. The post office was transferred back to Fullerton Building on 23 July 1928 and has remained there since.

The latter part of the 19th century marked the modern phase of the development in the history of the Singapore postal service. Services were extended to include a parcel post service, money order and postal order services and a post office savings bank. 1897 saw the establishment of the first sub-post offices, and by 1938, some 20 sub-post offices were already providing decentralised postal facilities on the island. The horse-drawn mail coaches were withdrawn and replaced by motor vans in 1914 as the mail traffic handled steadily increased.

In 1982, the Postal Services Department merged with the then Telecommunication Authority of Singapore, known as Telecoms. In 1992, the Telecommunication Authority of Singapore was split into three entities: the reconstituted Telecommunication Authority of Singapore (TAS, now part of the Info-communications Development Authority), Singapore Telecommunications Private Limited (now Singapore Telecommunications Limited) and Singapore Post Private Limited, a subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications. Singapore Post Limited was listed on the mainboard of the Singapore Exchange (SGX-ST) on 13 May 2003.

Singapore Post is the first Public Postal Licensee. TAS granted the licence in 1992 in accordance with section 42 of the Telecommunication Authority of Singapore Act 1992. As a licensee, Singapore Post is empowered to operate postal services with the exclusive privilege of receiving, collecting and delivering letters and postcards from one place to another until 31 March 2007.

Today, Singapore has over 60 post offices, more than 250 Self-service Automated Machines (SAMs) and SAMPLUS, around 40 postal agencies and more than 800 licensed stamp vendors. More than 800 posting boxes are installed at locations throughout the island.

Address Format

SingPost recommends the following format for addresses: [ [http://singpost.com/quick_services/quicks_06mail_03before.htm SingPost Webpage] ] [ [http://www.upu.int/post_code/en/countries/SGP.pdf Universal Postal Union: Singapore Guide] ] Generally, the last line "REP. OF SINGAPORE" is omitted when posting within the country.

Postal Codes

Background

Singapore was originally divided into 28 postal districts in 1950, with a number being allocated to each district, for example, the Orchard Road area was in District 9.

277 Orchard Road
Singapore 9

This was superseded by a new four-digit system in 1979, with the last two digits representing a sector in each district. There were in total 81 sectors.

277 Orchard Road
Singapore 0923

On 1 September 1995, this was replaced by a six-digit system, in which every building was given its unique postcode, the first two digits of which represented the old sector, i.e. 23.

277 Orchard Road
Singapore 238858

Although the old districts are no longer used by Singapore Post, they are still widely used to refer to locations of properties for sale or rent. [cite web |url=http://yesterday.sg/detail/singapores_postal_code/ |title=Singapore's Heritage, Museums & Nostalgia Blog - Singapore's Postal Code |accessdaymonth=6 October |accessyear= 2008] [cite press release |title=SingPost Clinched World Mail Award |publisher= Singapore Post|date= 28 May 2007 |url= http://www.singpost.com.sg/downloads/media/press_release/07/PR20070528.pdf |format= PDF]

6-Digit Postal Code

The 6-digit postal code is made up of the sector code and the delivery point. The sector is represented by the first two numbers of the postal code. The remaining four numbers define the delivery point within the sector. e.g.

56 Tanglin Road
Singapore 247964

24 is the sector code; 7964 is the delivery point, i.e. house or building.

For Housing & Development Board (HDB) residential blocks, the block number is included in the postal code. e.g.

Blk 335 Smith Street
Singapore 050335

HDB residential blocks with the same number in the same postal sector are differentiated by their postal codes as follows: e.g.

Blk 110 Simei Street 1
Singapore 520110
Blk 110 Tampines Street 11
Singapore 521110

The postal codes for private residential, commercial and industrial houses and buildings are assigned based on the alphabetical sequence of the street names in each sector. This means that the codes for a particular postal sector have been assigned first to houses and buildings located along street names beginning with 'A, followed by 'B' and so on. The postal codes for such properties do not contain the corresponding house or building numbers included in the postal code. HDB industrial and commercial blocks also use this system. [ [http://www.singpost.com.sg SingPost Website] ]

Postal Districts

This table lists the different postal districts: [ [http://www.ura.gov.sg/realEstateWeb/resources/misc/list_of_postal_districts.htm Urban Redevelopment Authority, Singapore] ]

References

ee Also

*Postal Code

External links

* [http://www.singpost.com/ Singapore Post Limited]