Singapore Myths and Legends 2014

Singapore issued 8 stamps depicting the scenes from its famous myths and legends on 3rd October 2014. Singapore has more than its fair share of myths and legends, including the origin of Singapore’s “Lion City”nickname, the tragic story of Radin Mas, and the inspiring tale of Badang that is related to the Singapore Stone. Many myths and legends of Singapore are shared with Malaysia. Many of these are taught and told to young school children at the age of 8 in class, so that these stories were not to die from over-Westernization.

The first set of four stamps depict The legend of Redhill, or Bukit Merah. The story tells of how a boy saved his village from attacks by dangerous swordfish, only to be murdered by a jealous king. As the story goes, the blood of the boy spilled out and soaked the hill, turning it red. This hill later came to be known as Redhill, and remains as a memorial to the boy for saving the village.

The next set of four stamps featured the legend of Sang Nila Utama, a prince from Palembang who, as the story goes, discovered the island of Singapore (known then as Temasek) while out on a hunting trip. According to the legend, the prince spotted what he thought was a lion, and named the island Singapura - Lion City in Sanskrit.