New S$20 note launched to commemorate Singapore’s bicentennial

2019-6-5

SINGAPORE: President Halimah Yacob on Wednesday (Jun 5) launched a S$20 note to commemorate Singapore's bicentennial.

The note, issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), depicts Singapore's journey to nationhood and pays tribute to forebears who laid the foundations for modern Singapore. 

The front of the commemorative note features a portrait of Mr Yusof Ishak, Singapore's first president, alongside the former Supreme Court and City Hall, which are now the National Gallery Singapore. 

The back of the note showcases eight pioneers who made significant contributions to nation building in areas ranging from education, culture and community service to sports and defending Singapore, MAS said. Each note comes with a specially designed folder.

The eight are Munshi Abdullah, secretary and interpreter for Sir Stamford Raffles, and who was widely recognised as the “Father of Modern Malay Literature”; Henry Nicholas Ridley, the first director of the Singapore Botanic Gardens; businessmen and philantrophists Tan Kah Kee and P Govindasamy Pillai; prominent social worker Teresa Hsu Chih; sportswoman Alice Pennefather; WWII war hero Adnan Saidi and pioneering educator Ruth Wong Hie King.

Two million pieces of the commemorative note will be available for public exchange at face value at branches of nine major banks from Jun 10:

- DBS Bank Limited / POSB

- Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited

- United Overseas Bank Limited

- Bank of China Limited

- Citibank Singapore Limited

- Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited

- Malayan Banking Berhad

- Standard Chartered Bank

- The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited

To allow everyone to have an opportunity to exchange for the commemorative note, each individual is allowed to exchange up to 20 pieces of the note per transaction. 

In addition, there will be 5,000 limited edition numismatic sets available for sale. Each set comprises an uncut sheet of three S$20 commemorative notes.

Pre-orders can be placed with The Singapore Mint from Wednesday to Jun 13. The numismatic currency sets will be allocated by balloting if they are oversubscribed and will be available for collection from Jun 20.

The S$20 commemorative note was designed by local artists Mr Eng Siak Loy and Mr Weng Ziyan.

In conjunction with the bicentennial, the MAS Gallery is also exhibiting for the first time a rare collection of currency notes and coins that trace the development of Singapore's currency over the past 200 years.

Source: CNA