2019-11-15 Fri

To commemorate Singapore’s bicentenary, President Halimah Yacob launched a S$20 note on June 5th of this year. The note that is issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) depicts the country’s journey to nationhood and pays tribute to people who laid the foundations of the modern Singapore.

On the obverse is the portrait of Mr Yusof Ishak, Singapore’s first president to right, alongside the former Supreme Court and City Hall, which are now the National Gallery Singapore. The denomination, the Singapore Coat of Arms and the Singapore Bicentennial logos are printed in gold next to it.

The reverse depicts a total of eight different personalities who have “made significant contributions to nation building in diverse areas ranging from education, culture and community service to sports and defending Singapore”. These eminent individuals are against the background of the Singapore River flowing from olden day into present day Singapore.

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 Philanthropists Tan Kah Kee and P Govindasamy Pillai;
Prominent social worker Teresa Hsu Chih;
Sportswoman Alice Pennefather; and
WWII war hero Adnan Saidi and pioneering educator Ruth Wong Hie King

Indeed a very fitting tribute to the people who laid the foundations of modern day Singapore.

Image Courtesy: eBay.com