Tourist amazed by Singapore banknotes: ‘Most beautiful’ he’s ever seen

SINGAPORE: A foreigner in Singapore took to social media to express his awe and admiration for Singaporean banknotes, saying they are the “most beautiful” he has ever seen.

In a short video, the foreigner shared, “I just came to Singapore, and look at that money. It’s like plastic…look at how beautiful it is.” He then brought a banknote closer to the camera. “This is 10 Singaporean dollars. Look at that! Wow, that’s insane…so beautiful. I think that they’re the most beautiful notes that I’ve ever seen in my life.”

To wrap up his video, he told his followers, “That’s day one in Singapore. I came from Bali, and let’s see what I can show you.”

A handful of users took to the post’s comments section to share their thoughts on Singaporean bank notes. “You know what I miss, the bird series of notes, they were different on the front and back. I grew up with the ships but the birds were cute,” said one.

“To be honest, it’s true for this region, but not in the world, in my opinion,” said another. “For example, Scottish pounds, they added things like backgrounds that go behind the face on the face side of the note and it blends really seamlessly together, I have a 5-pound note and it is easily one of the prettiest I have in my collection.”

Another commenter compared Singapore’s banknotes to those in the UK: “SG notes are kinda like English notes, which aren’t that bad, but seeing basically the same face design but recoloured across the entire series is a bit drab not going to lie, which is why in Singapore, we associate denominations with colour as opposed to face or design as they do in other countries (e.g $USD 100 note being called a Benjamin).”

Others highlighted the cultural significance embedded in Singapore’s currency. “I do agree. We have local art on our notes that celebrate our heritage. But it’s so easily taken for granted,” wrote one.

“Yeah, if you really look at them, there’s so much heritage and work going into the various notes. Each is intricately designed like a passion project,” said another.

One comment, however, stood out as it referenced the economic side of things. “It’d be more beautiful if the value didn’t keep going down every year too,” the person said.