Monday, June 23, 2008

1985 Perak Philatelic and Numismatic Exhibition

1985 Perak Philatelic and Numismatic Exhibition


This is another exciting cover for a Philatelic and Numismatic Exhibition held in Ipoh, Perak in 1985. The exhibition is held in Tun Razak Library, a very well known landmark in Ipoh town. See below for a picture of the magnificant structure.


"Perpustakaan Tun Razak, Jalan Kelab, 30000 Ipoh"


The word "numimastic" may sound very foreign for a lot of people. But is actually mean "coins" in Greek. Numimastic is the scientific study of currency and its history in all its varied forms. While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, the discipline also includes a much larger study of payment media used to resolve debts and the exchange of goods. Lacking a structured monetary system, people in the past as well as some today lived in a barter society and used locally found items of inherent or implied value. Early money used by primitive people is referred to as "Odd and Curious", but the use of other goods in barter exchange is excluded, even where used as a circulating currency (e.g., prison cigarettes). The Kyrgyz people used horses as the principal currency unit and gave small change in lambskins. The lambskins may be suitable for numismatic study, but the horse is not. Many objects have been used for centuries, such as conch shells, precious metals and gems.

Today, most transactions take place by a form of payment with either inherent, standardized or credit value. Numismatic value may be used to refer to the value in excess of the monetary value conferred by law. This is also known as the "collector's value" or "intrinsic value."

Stamps and Its "Value"

Stamp, in many ways, mimics the numimastic development process. It is a product perceived to have its "value", due to a guaranteed postal services to be provided by the Post Office. But in modern time, do stamp still have a "value" in prepaying for postal services?

For business level, most of our corporate/comercial letter does not use stamp anymore. They have used machine cancellation in replace of the process of pasting stamp on each letters they are to send. For individual level, letter writing are replaced by SMS and email. The used of stamp in letter posting had significantly less as compared to 10 years ago (where handphone and internet are still at their baby stage). With lesser stamp being used in daily life, kids from the 80's can not associate them as "hobby". Face it!! kids nowadays don't brag about having more stamps. They brag about having PSP or tons of kills they got from a DOTA game.

Is philatelic a dying hobby? Perhaps. . . But it is still my greatest fun at the current moment.

PS: if you don't know what is a "PSP" and "DOTA", you are either pretty old, or getting too off-track with the Y-generation.

Friday, June 13, 2008

1985 MKSAK Basketball Championship V

1985 MKSAK Basketball Championship in Bukit Titiwangsa Genting

"Souvenir Cover - Front"


"MKSAK Basketball Championship Emblem"

This sovenir cover is special in the sense that it was issued to commemorate a non-philatelic event. This did not happen quite often in the Malaysia philatelic history and certainly a first time for a basketball championship.

In case you are asking, "MKSAK" stands for Majlis Kebudayaan dan Sukan Anggota Kerajaan, or Malaysia Cultural and Sports Organisation for Government Servants. This organisation later changed its name to MAKSAK "Majlis Kebajikan dan Sukan Anggota Kerajaan", Malaysia Welfare and Sports Organisation for Government Servants.

The cover is nicely designed using shadowline art to illustrate two players fighting for a rebound. With just a few strokes, it clearly illustrates the tense and energy involved between the players, which is an excellent presentation.


"Souvenior Cover Back"

The cover was affixed with 15 1c national flower series stamps from all states, which signified the participation from all states. The stamps on the front of the cover were cancelled with Genting Highland "k" postmarks. The stamps on the back of the cover were cancelled with Genting Highland "m" postmarks.

I am very impressed with the "m" postmarks at the back of the cover. The postmark is very big and cancelled SIX stamps at one chop. Another special feature for this cancellation is that is actually showed the time of cancellation, 4.30pm, which is quite unusual and hard-to-come-about.

Sports is really important for all. I believe that even philately enthutiast should stay active to be healthy. Come on !!! Get some slam dunk action happening and don't lazzz in front of the computer reading blog !!! (except for reading some interesting blog like this one) .... Cheers.

1999 Stamp Week

1999 Stamp Week

"1999 Stamp Week Cancellation"

"1999 Stamp Week Cancellation"

Pos Malaysia had issued a very nice stamp and FDC, "Heliconia and its botanical relatives", for the 1999 Stamp Week. 10 stamps with the 30c value has been issued with different flower design. This issue help me to realise that there are so many kind of plant from the Heliconia family.

1999 Stamp week is held from 29 November to 5 December 1999 at the Dayabumi Complex, Pos Malaysia headquarter. 7 daily pictorial cancellations and 1 stamp week cancellations are introduced. The daily cancellations show different outlook of heliconia plant from various family group.

"Special stamp week cover"

The highlight for this stamp week was a special stamp week cover as shown above. The cover was printed with a extended art of the Heliconia sheetlet. You are to pasted the 10v stamp on the cover (at designated position in the middle) and it would look like an "enlarged art version" for the sheetlet.

Bright colours are used for this set of stamp and cover and thus make it look a bit chaotic. However, it is still a very nice cover for all specialised collectors. I would suggest to have this cover framed and hang on the wall as decoration (this could look really nice and eye catching!!).

However, please keep this special cover AWAY from direct sunlight. The ink used for this printing are not as good as you think and the colour of the cover may fade if expose under constant sunlight.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

1996 International Aviation Exposition

1996 International Aviation Exposition: Malaysia-Chiana Joint-Issue Cover

"Cover Front"


"Cover Back"

This is a cover jointly issued by China and Malaysia to commemorate the first International Aviation Expo being held in China in 1996. This joint issue cover is the the first-of-its-kind for Malaysia jointly issue philately items.

What is unique about this issue is that it is a "jointly issued cover" and not "jointly issued stamp". However, the description on the back is a little confusing:

"In order to congratulate '96 China International Aviation Exposition Held in China for the First time, we issued this commemorative stamp jointly"

The mandarin description however said that it is a jointly issued cover and not stamp. The mandarin description is correct. Only a joint issue cover issued and not the stamp.

The Expo, also known as Airshow China, is the only international aerospace exhibition in China that is approved by the Chinese Central Government, features real-size object display, trade disscussions, technical exchanges and flying display. Since the advent of Airshow China in 1996, it has been successfully held for 7 times and growing rapidly into one of the most influential international airshows in the Asian-Pacific Region and an ideal gateway to the vast Chinese market for aerospace companies from around the world.



The picture above shows the Malaysia cancellation of the '96 China International Aviation Exposition by POS Malaysia. The cancellation shows the building structure where the Expo is held, in Zhuhai, one of China's five special economic zones. The China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition is a biennial event.

As you may notice, the stamp affixed was not a Malaysia stamp. Instead, it is a United Nation stamp with denomination of 32c. I have got this cover from a China stamp collector. According to her, this could be due to the Pos Malaysia have not bring sufficient stamp and thus a United Nation stamp is used. As Malaysia is a member of UN, this should be legal... I think.