2002 Stamp Week

2002 Stamp Week

"2002 Stamp Week Private Cover - with First Day and Daily Stamp Week Cancellations"

For the 2002 stamp week, Pos Malaysia had celebrated it with a twist. Instead of holding the stamp week event at Kuala Lumpur (normally the GPO), they had held it in Penang. The whole idea was to let Penang people to have a chance to participate in such a great event without having to travel all the way to Kuala Lumpur. However, it became a really hard challeange for people staying in Johor to go there, as it will be a 8 hours drive. . . .

Anyway, it should have been a great event (although I had not gone there, I was a poor student study in Klang that time). I was told that the event was held in GPO Penang. If this information was not true, please kindly tell me. The event was held from 17 - 23 December 2002 (8 days).

A series of stamps featuring the Tame (yang Jinak) and the Wild (yang Liar) animals was issued. And continueing from the effort to ripe collector monies since 1999, Pos Malaysia had decided to issue the stamp in the following denomination: 2 x RM0.30, 6 x RM1. Yes, 6 RM1 stamp!! 2 on se-tenant pair (the birds) and 4 on 2 separate miniature sheet ("MS"). I believe the se-tenant pair RM1 birds stamps was plant to be issued on RM0.50 denomination when Pos Malaysia decided "Who cares about those collectors view, let them pay more!!".

"2002 The Tame and the Wild Original FDC"

Despite the fraustration I had on the location to held the stamp week the denomination of the stamps, this issue was really a magnificiant work of art. The design of the stamps, cover to the cancellation clearly illustrated that this was a top notch issue, which was highly seek after from collector over the work.

The so called "stamp week private cover" as shown on the top was actually a master piece I bought from a stamp trader from Penang. He had actually cut out the hamster and the stamp week logo from the original FDC (as above) and pasted them on the supersize blank cover, to create this one-and-only FDC which fits all the stamps, cancellations and 2 x miniature sheet.

"First Day Cancellation"

Interestingly, Pos Malaysia did not intruduce any individual "Stamp Week Cancellation". If you have been following my blog, a stamp week cancellation was a cancellation to show the duration and date of the stamp week, as well as the location of it (for instance, "17 - 23 Dec 2002, Penang"). Instead, this issue have the normal cancellation (as above) which illustrate a mouse and cat on 17 Dec 2002, and stamp week daily + stamp week combo cancellation from 17 Dec (2 cancellation of the same day!!) to 23 Dec 2008.

As you can see, the daily cancellation was design with and animal on the stamp and idicate whether they are either "tame" or "wild". I will showcase them one-by-one below:

"Gold Fish (Tame) and Bubble Fish (Wild)"

"17 Dec Cancellation - Gold Fish and Bubble Fish"

That's what I call syncronized stamp and cancellation. I am not sure the real name for the "bubble fish" but that's what I normally call it. In Malay, it is called Ikan Buntal. I know that it was poison and not edible. So if you caught one when fishing, please just let it back to the water before it inflated itself, like a baloon in the miniature sheet. The fish don't inflate itself for fun. It only do it to scare off enemy. I saw some fisherman selling some fully inflated, dried one as hanging ornament in the Kukup fishing village. I personally don't really fancy about hanging a death fish in your house, but it may be cool.

"Cockatoo (Tame)"

"18 Dec Cancellation - Cockatoo"

In my previous blog here, I mentioned that this bird was not origin from malaysia and does not exist in the wild. Looking back at this stamp, I think I am right as it categorised the bird as "Tame" (you can see the "Yang Jinak" on the cancellation). Can anybody studying zoologist or bird confirm this?

Looking at this stamp make me realised that Burung Kakak Tua (cockatoo) was a parrot, not a crow. When I was singing the children song "Burung Kakak Tua" in primary school, nobody explain to me how this bird look like, so I always think it was a crow as crow always go "Kak Gak Kag".

Anybody still remember the song "Burung Kaka Tua"? The lyric go like this:

Burung kakak tua
Hinggap di jendela
Nenek sudah tua
Giginya tinggal dua

Lechum Lechum Lechum Mu la la
Lechum Lechum Lechum Mu la la
Lechum Lechum Lechum Mu la la
Burung Kakak Tua

Those would like to do a sing-along with you kids could go and download the midi file here.

"Owl (Wild)"

"19 Dec Cancellation - Owl"

Owl, a bird of prey that hunt behind the shadow of the night. Did you know that this bird can fly without making a sound?

"Meow (Tame)"

"20 Dec - Cat"

Meow ...... Cats, how adorable. They will only pester you when they want food and they know how to clean themself. A perfect pets for everybody who hate dog.

This stamp and cancellation make a nice collection for thematic collector of "cats on stamps". Please click ---> here for a nice web page about cats on stamp and post-mark of cats.

"Wild Cat / Clouded Leopard (Wild)"

"21 Dec Cancellation - Wild Cat"

I am not sure if I should call this "Wild Cat" or "Clouded Leopard". But the Malay translation was "Kucing Batu" so I guess "Wild Cat" was the appropriate term here. But I am really not sure what's the different between both of them.

"Squirrel (Wild) and Rabbit (Tame)"

"21 Dec Cancellation - Rabbit (Tame)"

"23 Dec Cancellation - Squirrel (Wild)"

Rabbits are ground dwellers that live in environments ranging from desert to tropical forest and wetland. Their natural geographic range encompasses the middle latitudes of the Western Hemisphere. In the Eastern Hemisphere rabbits are found in Europe, portions of Central and Southern Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Sumatra, and Japan. The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) has been introduced to many locations around the world, and all breeds of domestic rabbit originate from the European. So the rabbits we see in Malaysia were not origin from the land there.

Squirrel, wild. No body keep them as pet. They bite. And remember the old saying of Malay, "sepandai-pandai tupai melompat, akhirnya jatuh ke tanah juga" (which translate to english as "no matter how good a suirrel jump, it may fall to the ground one day"), which mean "no matter how good you are at something, you may fail one day too".

SPECIAL ISSUE (Pewter, Gold and Nobium FDC)

Royal Selangor also issued some special FDC to commemorate this issue.

"Pewter FDC - Cheetah (Wild) and Meow Cat (Tame)"

The wild big cat on this cover is obviously an African Cheetah. Why is it even doing on the cover? It was not even featured in the stamp and it was not even found in Malaysia wild? The Pewter FDC original price was RM33.

The little kitty on the cover just reminded me of the "puss-in-boots" from Skrek. See below:

"Meeeowwwww"

"24k Gold FDC - Cockatoo (Tame) and Eagle(Wild)"

Another bird of prey, the eagle was featured on this cover. The stamp was not actually full gold. It was gilded pewter coated in 24K gold. Original price: RM85.80.

"Nobium FDC - Cow (Tame) and Sumatran Rhinoceros (Wild)"

The cover original price was RM137.50. Sumatran Rhinoceros (as illustrated on the cover) are now critically endangered, with only six substantial populations in the wild: four on Sumatra, one on Borneo, and one on peninsular Malaysia. Their numbers are difficult to determine because they are solitary animals that are widely scattered across their range, but they are estimated to number around 300. The decline in the number of Sumatran Rhinoceros is attributed primarily to poaching for their horns, which are highly valued in traditional Chinese medicine, fetching as much as US$30,000 per kilogram on the black market. The rhinos have also suffered from habitat loss as their forests have been cleared for lumber and conversion to agriculture.

So please, if you see this blog, please stop buying these product, or you will destroy this creature, a beautiful natural heritage for our children.

2001 Stamp Week

2001 Stamp Week

2001 Stamp Week featured yet another favorite theme of all time, marine life. The stamp, miniature sheet and cover were delightfully designed to include coral, sea horse, star fish, elephant shell and sea cow or "dugong". This stirred lot of interest in the collectors.

The event was held in Bukit Jalil Stadium, Kuala Lumpur from 10 November - 17 November 2001. The event was grant with tonnes of people from every part of the nation participate in it. Pos Malaysia even name this stamp week as "Pesta Setem" or Stamp Fiesta. Indeed it was a fiesta filled with joy and excitement.

"2001 stamp week cancellation and pesta stamp lable"

Those who have participated in the stamp week would have a chance to get the 8 day-cancellation, a stamp week cancellation and an exclusive Biro Filateli Pesta Stamp lable (not postal legal).

"Weird print on cover"

If you look at the first day cover in details (please click the cover above to enlarge it), you can see an unusual print on the cover. An obvious link was noted on the design on the FDC. My guess was that Pos Malaysia originally intended to have the miniature sheet fit on the specific location on the cover to form a syncronised image (like the 1996 and 1998 stamp week cover). However, due to some reason (maybe the size of the MS won't fit), this design was not put into the final print.

Did you notice that the design on featured on the stamp (the coral, sea horse, shell and star fish) was also featured in the miniature sheet? It could hint that the original design was intended to be a sheetlet with all the stamps but the final print separate the MS with the other stamp. Another tactic by Pos Malaysia to sell more cover I guess.

"Imperformorated miniature sheet"

The unique print for this issue was thee imperf dugong miniature sheet.

The dugong (Dugong dugon) is a large marine mammal which, together with the manatees, is one of four living species of the order Sirenia. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest modern relative, Steller's Sea Cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), was hunted to extinction in the 18th century. It is also the only sirenian in its range, which spans the waters of at least 37 countries throughout the Indo-Pacific, though the majority of dugongs live in the northern waters of Australia between Shark Bay and Moreton Bay. In addition, the dugong is the only strictly-marine herbivorous mammal.

Dugongs are pretty rare in Malaysia. However, some sighting are still recorded. Please see here for some report.

Note: Dugong is often mistaken as manatee. The main difference between manatees and dugongs are the tails. A manatee tail is paddle-shaped, while a Dugong tail is forked, similar in shape to a whale's.

Here is a dugong video from youtube:

2000 Stamp Week

2000 Stamp Week

"Stamp Week Cover 1 and 2"

"Stamp Week Cover 3"

"Stamp Week Cancellation"

Year 2000 was a crazy year where Pos Malaysia had issued so many stamps that make every philatelist SICK!!

Just have a look at the 2000 stamp week issues as above. It has 14v stamp and a miniature sheet. There are also 2 kind of covers available. This is more than any of the devinitive issues ever introduced by Pos Malaysia.

However, quality wise, this issue is still very pretty and induced high demand. The flowers stamps are very nicely design. The stamp week cancellation and the daily stamp week cancellations are also superb.

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.

1998 Stamp Week

1998 Stamp Week - Insects

Stamp Week 1998 was held from 26 November - 6 December 1998 (9 days) at the General Post Office Komplek Dayabumi building. This was a very nice cover featuring insects in Malaysia. The cover was designed by PK.Chua, whose signature is on the cover.

Stamp Week Cancellation
(gotten from the Stamp Week Venue)

This was the first year of stamp week where POS Malaysia issued various pictorial cancellation for each 9 days of the events. The pictorial cancellation are illustrated as above. However, I still can't get any FDC with these 9 days cancellation for my collection. If anybody who read this and would like to sell/exchange with me a copy this cover, I will be very thankful.

Pewter and Niobium FDC was also issued for this event. However, I have none of these in my collection and thus could not share it with you all. There was also a imperf sheetlet of 4 miniature sheet issued. The original selling price, if not mistaken was RM40. For your information, as of today, you still could get this item at certain small post office for the original price. I guess not much collector was interested in collect it.

1997 Stamp Week

1997 Stamp Week - Protected Wildlife

The above is the protected wildlife FDC issued for the 1997 stamp week. The miniature sheet issued was superb and nice (as usual, they are design by the all famous Mr Tay Yew Kiang). However, the cover design was very disappointing. Since 1957, we barely see any mono-colored FDC any more. And now, it resurfaced again. I believe Pos Malaysia had design the cover last minute.

Special stamp week cancellation like this could be gotten if you have attended the event at GPO Kuala Lumpur. Again, similar to 1996 stamp week, it is a big event with tons of activities.

Due to the sucky FDC, I had decided to purchase the pewter and nobium FDC. Now, these FDC design is more like it. With both covers illustrating the rain forest in Malaysia. Note that both covers design are different. The nobium FDC is nicer with the gold covered fish with nobium deep blue background. The original selling price for the nobium FDC is RM98 while the pewter on is RM25.

I am glab I bought both and got the stamp week cancellations as well as the designer's signature on them.

Now, if you look at ebay or some of the philatelic website, you may notice this miniature sheet ("MS"). It is not listed in the catalougue by International Stamps and Coins. This MS was issued by the Southern Colour Print in commemorative of the Stamp Week.

Southern Colour Print is a New Zealand Company specialised in the secure printing of stamps, books etc (see more details at http://www.gsponline.co.nz/). They were present at the 1997 stamp week, on invitation by Pos Malaysia, to demonstrate the printing of MS. Thus, this was the design that they had come out. Very limited quantity of this miniature sheet were noted. I was glad to get the New Zealand designer's signature on this cover too.

1996 Stamp Week

1996 – Stamp Week: Wildlife

1996 Stamp Week was the first stamp week organised by POS Malaysia from 2 - 7 December 2006. It was held in GPO Kuala Lumpur. The Stamp Week was a really great event with more than 15 booths of stamp dealers (if I remember clearly) from local and other Asia countries participated. The artist for this set of stamp, Mr Tay Yew Kiang, was also present to sign for the FDC.

The "Stamp Week '96" cancellation could only be gotten at the stamp week venue. This issues did not have the day-to-day stamp week cancellation.

The event was very grand with tons of people, dealers and stamp club participated. If you compared it to the recent 2007 stamp week held in 1 Utama Shopping Center with only 3 dealers and 1 Pos Malaysia booth, you will know what I meant. I wonder if it is due to the limited budget or the declining of Malaysian enthusiast in philately, the Stamp Week event is getting smaller and smaller…..

One special item worthwhile to be added to all philately fanatic collection is the Litho Print special cover. It originally cost RM15.

Litho actually refers to "lithography" in short. Lithography is a method for printing on a smooth surface. Invented by Bavarian author Alois Senefelder in 1796, it can be used to print text or artwork onto paper or other suitable material.

Lithography is a printing process that uses chemical processes to create an image. For instance, the positive part of an image would be a hydrophobic chemical, while the negative image would be water. Thus, when the plate is introduced to a compatible ink and water mixture, the ink will adhere to the positive image and the water will clean the negative image. This allows for a relatively flat print plate which allows for much longer runs than the older physical methods of imaging (e.g., embossing or engraving).

If you would like to find out more about lithography, please refer to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithography