Singapore Post

Singapore Post Limited

Company type	Public
Traded as	SGX: S08
Industry	Conglomerate
Founded	1819 (as Singapore Post Office)
Headquarters	Paya Lebar, Singapore
Key people	Lim Ho Kee, Chairman Dr. Wolfgang Baier, CEO
Products	Mail delivery Post offices Retail
Website	www.singpost.com

Singapore Post Limited (SGX: S08 ), commonly abbreviated as SingPost, is an associate company of Singapore Telecommunications Limited and 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. Its headquarters is in Paya Lebar, Singapore.

History

Early history

File:FullertonFromBoatQuay.JPG

Fullerton Hotel, the former Fort Fullerton where the General Post office was located

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. After 1856, a footbridge was constructed across the river and a toll of 1⁄4 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 dispatch. 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.

Modern history

Singapore Post Centre in Paya Lebar, the headquarters of SingPost.

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, an associated company of Singapore Telecommunications (as of Jun 2012).

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 62 post offices, 299 Self-service Automated Machines (SAMs) and SAMPLUS, around 40 postal agencies and more than 800 licensed stamp vendors. There are also 8,907 posting boxes are installed at various locations throughout the island.

Growth

SingPost has made several acquisitions to strengthen and grow its business. In 2009, it acquired the remaining 50% stake in G3 Worldwide Aspac (G3AP), thereby giving the company presence in 10 countries (including Singapore). In 2009, G3 Worldwide Aspac (G3AP) was renamed to Quantium Solutions, a now wholly owned subsidiary of SingPost. It also raised its stake in Malaysian Logistics player GDEX to 27% in 2011.

Quantium Solutions

Quantium Solutionsis a logistics company and wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore Post Pte. Ltd.., specialising in logistics and fulfilment services to businesses within the Asia Pacific region.. Quantium Solutions is headquartered in Singapore and has operations in 45 cities in Asia Pacific: Australia, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand.

Formerly known and acquired as G3 Worldwide Aspac Pte Ltd (trading as Spring Global Mail), Quantium Solutions was incorporated in 2001 as a joint venture between TNT Logistics, Royal Mail and Singapore Post. The company was wholly acquired by Singapore Post Pte Ltd on 6 May 2009, and formally launched as Quantium Solutions International Pte Ltd (Quantium Solutions) on 2 November 2009.

Address format

SingPost recommends the following format for addresses:

Example	Format
Ms. Tan Bee Soo 16 Sandilands Road SINGAPORE 546080 REP. OF SINGAPORE	name of addressee street number and name name of town + postcode
Mr. M. Rajendran Blk 35 Mandalay Road # 13–37 Mandalay Towers SINGAPORE 308215 REP. OF SINGAPORE	name of addressee block number and street name floor – apartment number + building name name of town + postcode

Generally, the last line REP. OF SINGAPORE is omitted when posting within the country.

Postal codes

See Postal codes in Singapore

Postal districts

This table lists the postal districts:

Postal District	Postal Sector (1st 2 digits of 6-digit postal codes)	General Location
01	01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06	Raffles Place, Cecil, Marina, People's Park
02	07, 08	Anson, Tanjong Pagar
03	14, 15, 16	Queenstown, Tiong Bahru
04	09, 10	Telok Blangah, Harbourfront
05	11, 12, 13	Pasir Panjang, Hong Leong Garden, Clementi New Town
06	17	High Street, Beach Road (part)
07	18, 19	Middle Road, Golden Mile
08	20, 21	Little India
09	22, 23	Orchard, Cairnhill, River Valley
10	24, 25, 26, 27	Ardmore, Bukit Timah, Holland Road, Tanglin
11	28, 29, 30	Watten Estate, Novena, Thomson
12	31, 32, 33	Balestier, Toa Payoh, Serangoon
13	34, 35, 36, 37	Macpherson, Braddell
14	38, 39, 40, 41	Geylang, Eunos
15	42, 43, 44, 45	Katong, Joo Chiat, Amber Road
16	46, 47, 48	Bedok, Upper East Coast, Eastwood, Kew Drive
17	49, 50, 81	Loyang, Changi
18	51, 52	Simei, Tampines, Pasir Ris
19	53, 54, 55, 82	Serangoon Garden, Hougang, Ponggol
20	56, 57	Bishan, Ang Mo Kio
21	58, 59	Upper Bukit Timah, Clementi Park, Ulu Pandan
22	60, 61, 62, 63, 64	Jurong
23	65, 66, 67, 68	Hillview, Dairy Farm, Bukit Panjang, Choa Chu Kang
24	69, 70, 71	Lim Chu Kang, Tengah
25	72, 73	Kranji, Woodgrove, Woodlands
26	77, 78	Upper Thomson, Springleaf
27	75, 76	Yishun, Sembawang
28	79, 80	Seletar

See also

• Postage stamps and postal history of Singapore

External links

• Singapore Post Limited official website
• Quantium Solutions official website