Even if you are just an
amateur stamp-collector, much less a professional philatelist, it won’t take
you long to realize that not many people in this world are fond of collecting Singapore stamps, as compared to, say, stamps issued by other countries.
SingPost seems to have somewhat cheapened the value of
Singapore stamps, by issuing First Day Covers, as if they're selling parking
coupons—Singapore issues, on average, a dozen sets of new stamps
every year.
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| Semi-circle stamps of yesteryear |
In general, most Singapore stamps have an uninteresting theme or design; SingPost's commemoratives seem to have been issued more as a means to generating extra revenue from stamp collectors, with little attention paid to aesthetics and beauty.
Numeracy via Singapore Math Stamps
In general, although philatelists don't have a positive view of Singapore stamps, however, not all is bleak for our postal department. To promote mathematics and mathematics education in Singapore, in particular Singapore’s mathematical achievements locally and internationally, it wouldn’t be a bad idea if SingPost considers issuing commemoratives with a mathematical flavor. For instance, it can issue First Day Covers on the following themes:
In general, although philatelists don't have a positive view of Singapore stamps, however, not all is bleak for our postal department. To promote mathematics and mathematics education in Singapore, in particular Singapore’s mathematical achievements locally and internationally, it wouldn’t be a bad idea if SingPost considers issuing commemoratives with a mathematical flavor. For instance, it can issue First Day Covers on the following themes:
· A set of three stamps
featuring Singapore’s triple firsts at the Third International Mathematics and
Science Study (TIMSS), which has since put Singapore on the Mathematics Education World Map—an economic by-product of this would be to produce more localized adaptations of Singapore math textbooks, hopefully from some politically unstable, resources-rich developing countries;
· Another set of three stamps featuring Singapore’s emphasis on
the concrete-pictorial-abstract model in primary (or elementary) school mathematics, which arguably has contributed to
our students’ better understanding of mathematical concepts, especially when it comes to solving word (or story) problems;
· A set of stamps
highlighting Singapore’s model (or bar) method, which has prematurely empowered tens of
thousands of local pupils to solve nonroutine and challenging word problems, which traditionally used to be set only at the secondary (or middle-) school level;
· A set of stamps depicting famous (dead or living) Asian (or Singaporean) mathematicians and mathematics educators—few as
they may be—who have contributed much to raising the mathematical standards in Asia;
· A set of stamps
celebrating special Math Days like the AbacusDay, Statistics Month, Metric Week, and Pi Day;
· A set of stamps debunking
Asian superstitions, myths, and legends, related to annual festivals like the Lunar Seventh Month (or Ghost Month); or exposing pseudoscientific beliefs involving so-called auspicious and inauspicious (or lucky and unlucky) numbers, feng shui numbers, and I Ching;
· A set of stamps on the
different types of abacuses,
including those used in divination and superstition;
· A set of stamps featuring
magic squares used by Asians in numerology and astrology;
· A set of stamps featuring
Asian achievements in mathematics, whether at the International Mathematics
Olympiad (IMO) or in regional contests and competitions;
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| The pentagonal framework defining Singapore's math curriculum |
· A set of stamps featuring
the most commonly used (or misused or abused) heuristics (e.g., draw a
diagram, make a list, guess and check, look for patterns, work backwards) and some artificially forced thinking skills (e.g., classifying, comparing, sequencing, identifying
patterns and relationships, analyzing parts
and whole, induction, deduction, spatial
visualization);
· A set of stamps
commemorating the Singapore's Ministry of Education (MOE) visions:
1998:
Thinking Schools, Learning Nation
2006:
Teach Less, Learn More
2014 and beyond: ?!?!
Glocalizing Singapore Math via Philately
To promote
an interest and appreciation of Singapore's (or Asia's) mathematical history and heritage in
philately, traveling exhibitions may be held
locally and regionally. For instance, rare philatelic gems such
as mistakes, fakes, and forgeries—how mathematics can help detect
forgery and fraud in philately—may be showcased.
So, issuing Singapore stamps with a mathematical flavor would go a long
way to marketing and glocalizing Singapore math, while recognizing the contribution of local
math educators, on leveraging the
power of mathematics to help alleviate poverty, or lessen the economic
gap between the haves and the have-nots. Let’s stamp mathematics
firmly on Singapore postage stamps—glue is halal. Stamp up, Singapore!
For further
reading
Wilson. Robin J. (2001). Stamping
through mathematics. New York: Springer-Verlag.
© Yan Kow Cheong, October 15, 2014.
