The entire lyrics of the Singapore national anthem are printed on the back of the $1000 Portrait series banknote in microprint. For all other denominations, only the words Majulah Singapura is used.

‘Majulah Singapura’ is Singapore’s national anthem. Written in the official language of Malay, it is translated as ‘Onward Singapore’. The national anthem of Singapore was composed in 1958 by Zubir Said, initially as a theme song for official functions of the City Council of Singapore. Later in 1959, this song was selected as the island’s anthem upon attaining self-government.

Lyrics of the Singapore National Anthem

Mari kita rakyat Singapura
Sama-sama menuju bahagia
Cita-cita kita yang mulia
Berjaya Singapura

Marilah kita bersatu
Dengan semangat yang baru
Semua kita berseru
Majulah Singapura
Majulah Singapura

Recently, small triangles have appeared on the reverse of the $1000 Singapore banknote, in addition to the square dots spotted on other denominations. This security feature was added in early 2009, but its purpose is not revealed to the public. The two triangles are found below the word ‘Government’ on the reverse. Today, many collectors are still puzzled about the presence of such symbols.

As mentioned in our previous article, ‘there may be other shapes, such as circles, stars or triangles’. My hypothesis remains as such: The symbols represent the year of printing. In January 2009, $10 notes with one square dot appeared in circulation. In October 2009, there were $10 notes with two square dots, $100 notes with one or two square dots and $1000 notes with one square dot. In December 2009, $50 notes with one square dot appeared. In January 2010, $2 notes with two square dots are commonly seen. In February 2010, $1000 notes with two square dots are found circulating.

Based on the above, one square dot may represent the year 2008, two square dots 2009 and two triangles 2010. This is just a guess!

The first prefix for the new $1000 note, signed by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, is 2AA.

Scans provided by Vincent Tan.

A special commemorative banknote was issued by the Bank of China (Hong Kong) a month before the 2008 Beijing Olympics (XXIX Olympiad). A total of four million pieces of HK$20 Olympic banknotes were printed. Since there were multiple-in-one packages, there were only 3.14 million items available for sale, of which 2.93 million of these items were sold in Hong Kong.

The single HK$20 banknote is presented in a blue-purple folder and is sold for HK$138, almost seven times its face value. The 4-in-1 uncut sheets are sold for HK$338, while the 35-in-1 uncut sheets are sold for HK$1388. Queues started two days before the note was made available to the public.

Features on the obverse include a picture of a plinth, the official Beijing Olympics emblem and the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong. The Olympic Stadium, commonly known as the ‘Bird’s Nest’ is shown on the reverse.

This banknote shares the same colour and size as the 2003 HK$20 note issued by the Bank of China (Hong Kong). However, new security features such as bright-and-highlighted watermarks and colour-changing windowed threads were introduced. The serial number consists of six digits and may include a two-letter prefix. The prefixes include AA, BJ and HK. The remaining 1 million banknotes do not bear a prefix.

With less than two weeks left to the Lunar New Year, banks around Singapore (and perhaps other parts of the world) have been flooded with people, mostly to exchange for new notes. The use of new notes for the New Year symbolises a new beginning. Pieces of mint-fresh paper money fill up the red packets and are given out at family gatherings during this festive period. Stocks seem to be depleting quickly at OCBC for the $2, $5 and $10 denominations.

However, queuing up may take some time, especially during lunch hours. At around 3 pm yesterday, long queues were formed in the Serangoon Garden branches of DBS, OCBC and UOB. For example, it took me close to 35 minutes to exchange for new notes at DBS.

To avoid the long queues at local banks, you may wish to try obtaining your new banknotes at banks like Citibank, HSBC, Maybank or Standard Chartered. For example, there were only three other people in queue at HSBC Serangoon Garden when I visited the bank yesterday afternoon. Try visiting areas where different banks are located near one another. My favourite clusters (containing at least 5 banks, within walking distance) include Serangoon Garden, Ang Mo Kio Central and Holland Village.

In addition, $2 notes with two square dots at the back have been spotted. Currently, square dots have appeared on five of the seven denominations: $2, $10, $50, $100 and $1000, of which the notes either contain one, two or no square dots. Square dots have not been spotted on denominations of $5 and $10000 yet.

Since mid December 2009, news of the new $50 paper banknote of the Portrait Series has been spreading, just weeks after the new $100 paper banknotes were introduced. The new banknote carries the signature of Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Similar to other new notes issued from 2007, there is an additional square dot printed below the word ‘Arts’, for security purposes.

As the Lunar New Year is just a few weeks away, remember to check various banks for the new banknotes. Although I have been many ATMs around the country, I have not seen any of the new $50 notes yet. Here’s the new $50 banknote, with the help of Mr Vincent Tan.

Just like the $100 note, the new $50 banknote is still printed on paper. Even though $100 notes are not used frequently in daily transactions, the $50 note certainly is. I am still trying to get a scan of the new $1000 banknote, which can be identified from its serial number, which starts with the digit 1.

When you come across a new note, simply leave a comment below with the serial number and number of square dots on the reverse, or send an SMS to 8260 7772.