Singapore
Singapore experienced break-neck growth in its first decades of existance and has subsequently forever been reinventing itself in order not to be left behind by shifting trading patters or technological change. Looming over this is the story of how the colony was made into a nation by its ruling party. Singapore's stamp issues after its independence in 1965 are a running narrative of this evolution. Singapore started issuing stamps in 1948 when it was still a colony. The end-date of my collection is 2001, after which I only selectively add stamps to the extent that they fit my collecting theme.
Straits Settlements
In the pre-independence period, economic development was spearheaded by many enterprising traders operating in what was then the Straits Settlements. Their traces are left in the form of endorsements (chops) or perforations of stamps issued throughout this period.