Shortly after Singapore’s independence, then Minister for Finance Goh Keng Swee rediscovered the potential of POSB in fostering a savings culture in the young nation-state. The national bank also provided him the chance to mobilise those savings to pay for national infrastructure projects. He created a committee to come up with a plan to revitalise POSB and by the end of 1968, the declining trend in deposits was reversed. In 1972, the bank was made a statutory board under the Finance Ministry.These stickers were produced as part of POSB’s school savings programme targeted at students to cultivate the savings habit. POSB chose the squirrel as its mascot because the animal was known for its habit of storing food for rainy days. POSB featured Smiley Squirrel prominently in many of its publicity materials for school children during the 1980s-90s.
