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.

1970 Sarawak Exhibition - Update

Subsequent to my blog regarding the 1970 Sarawak Exhibition, George Wu, blogger from Gulfmann Stamp Collection have provided me with his certificate of membership for the Sarawak Philatelic Society. The Society postal address was:

PO Box no. 376, Sibu, Sarawak.

I have uploaded the Certificate of Membership to share with fellow collector:

However, we still have no information as if the society is still active or such. Anybody who have more information is more than welcome to share it here under "comments".

Once again, thank George Wu for the information.

1999 Golf World Cup of Golf

1999 World Cup of Golf

"1999 Golf World Cup Commemorative Cover with Limited Edition MS"

The cover you see above may be the most expensive cover in the history of Malaysia modern philately. I last saw the miniature sheet sold at around USD$90 in ebay.

The stamp and cover was issued in 1999 to commemorate Golf World Cup held in Mines Resort & Golf Club from 19 - 21 November 1999. The commemorative cover will only be available if you bought the limit issue folder, which contain the cover with stamp and fdc and a special booklet outline the world cup. The folder was originally sold at RM25.

However, what make this cover valuable is the limited edition sheetlet with the design which outline 18 holes of the Mines Resort & Golf Club. Only 300 sheetlets were issued and sold in GPO Kuala Lumpur. Yes, 300!! No kidding. At that quantity, it had become one of the rarest stamp sought after by hardcore collector.

In this tornament, Tiger Wood won his first world cup individual title and team title with Mark O’Meara, bringing the world cup back to US since 1995.

"1999 Tiger Wood"

The United States won the 32-team World Cup on Sunday (21 Novermber 1999), with Woods producing the best score in the tournament’s history and taking individual honors by a record nine strokes.

His overpowering performance allowed the United States to erase Spain’s lead over the last nine holes, ensuring that the cup would return to the United States.

Woods shot a 6-under-par 65, more than offsetting a 77 by partner Mark O’Meara. He finished at 21-under 263 and O’Meara had 282 for a five-shot victory over Spain, 545 to 550.

“Tiger rose to the occasion,” O’Meara said. “He met the challenge.”

Woods won of $200,000 from the team prize plus the individual award of $100,000.

In 1999, the United States has won 22 of the 45 World Cups. But it had not won since Couples and Davis Love III swept four in a row from 1992 through 1995.

Backed by Woods’ course-record 63, the Americans took a seven-shot lead over Spain on Saturday (20 November 1999). But the Spaniards still had a chance.

Spain team's Miguel Angel Martin and Santiago Luna made the turn Sunday one shot ahead. The United States was hurt by O’Meara’s front nine of 4 over.

Then Woods birdied the first four holes on the back nine while Luna followed a double-bogey on the 10th with bogeys on the next two holes. The Americans led by five.

Woods’ 263 total beat the 265 set by Fred Couples in the 1994 World Cup, although Couples was 23 under on the par-72 Dorado Beach course in Puerto Rico.

This cover really marked a historical moment in Golf history, as well as Malaysia Philately history.

1991 Youth Exhibition

1991 Youth Exhibition ("Pameran Filateli Remaja")

This was another exhibition held in Manara Maybank (if you are following my blog, the previous one was MALPEX'89). It was held in Balai Seni, Menara Maybank from 18 - 27 October 1991.(10 days). I don't really have the first day exhibition cover for this exhibition. The picture above (I am sorry as it was a bit blur) was taken from the Melaka Stamp Muzium. It showed the exhibition cancellation and the 1st day cancellation of the Youth Philately Exibition. 10 daily cancellation was introduced. But so far, I have only seen the "exhibition cancellation" and daily cancellation of 18 Oct and 20 Oct. If anyone have the whole collection of the cancellations, I would really apppreciate if you can share it with me.

"Exhibition Cancellation"

"18 October cancellation"

Above was the enlarged version of the first day and exhibition cancellation. I am sorry as this is the clearest it can get. If you need to see the clearer version of this, you should go to Melaka Stamp Museum. It is small yet pretty informative and the entrance fee is only RM1!!!. As for the signature on the cover, I guess it was from someone who formally open the event.

My beautiful wife - in front of Melaka Stamp Museum :)

I hope the pic above would encourage everyone to pay a visit there. hehe. Just google Melaka Stamp Museum and you should be able to get there pretty easy.

"1991 Youth Philately Exhibition - Italy Day"

Now the exhibition cover I owned is this "Italy Day" cover with a set of frama label. It was when I obtained this exhibition cover that I discovered that Malaysia actually have the postal stationary known as "Frama Label". It was issued in 1987 and the one-and-only Frama Label vending machine was located in GPO Kuala Lumpur.

"Malaysia Frama Label Machine"

The above is the vending machine which print the Frama Label (pic taken from "Gulfmann Stamps Collection" blog, provided by kkkhor). And, like most of the public facility in Malaysia, it was broken.

"Italy Philately Club Invi Card??" Can anyone translate this?

If you are wondering why would there be "Italy Day" or "Hari Itali" during a Malaysia stamp exhibition... so do me. I guess Italy Philately was a c0-organiser of the event or they have have some exhibition booth at this exhibition, which warrant a day dedicated to them.

"Italy Day Poscard"

I also collected a Italy poscard, with Youth Philately Exhibition'91 overprint, Malaysia Map as the background and Italy stamps imprinted on it. A marvelous collector item.

I have gone a bit long winded today showing off my wife, Frama Label vending machine etc as it have been some time since I last update my blog. Being quite lazy recently and try to take it slow to enjoy my new life here in Australia. Thanks for everyone who are sending me emails to request for stamp/postcard/fdc exchange. I really appreciate that. I will try to drop you a nice cover from Brisbane (disclamer: the above statement was a presumption clause and does not commited to any act to comply).

Till next time, happy collecting. Cheers.

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:

2008 Nocturnal Animals

2008 Nocturnal Animals

This is a private cover I have made for 2008 Nocturnal Animals issued on 13 March 2008. The original cover is too small and could not fit both the miniature sheet and the stamps. Thus, I have make a bigger cover using the design of the stamp folder to make it to fit everything. I have also include the side tab for the stamps in this FDC, which make it even more perfect.

Personally, I like this FDC very much. I hope you like it too. :)

1990 Selpex

1990 Selangor Philatelic Exhibition (Selpex)

"Selpex Exhibition Cover"

Similar to the MALPEX exhibition cover in my other blog, this is another preprinted stamp exhibition cover for Selangor Philatelic Exhibition ("SELPEX"). It was held from 7 - 15 july 1990 in Shah Alam. This postal stationery envelope, which was sold for 30 sen, features an imprinted ‘stamp’ reproducing a rejected design for the Selangor 20c. stamp. The lettering and layout differs from the normal issue and shows the oil palm fruit in close-up. The sultan’s head and arms are much smaller. You can see below for the different between the Malpex print and this print.

"MALPEX'89 Kelapa Sawit Preprinted stamp"

"SELPEX'90 Kelapa Sawit Preprinted Stamp"

See the different between the SELPEX agricultural oil palm ("kelapa sawit") stamp with the original stamp? The different is very obvious. Aside from the pictorial differences, the font type and size used for the the word "Malaysia" and "20c" is also different from the normal print. The unique stamp as printed on the cover make this an essential collection for all hardcore agricultural state definitive series collectors.

"Selangor Darul Ehsan Arch"

The arch as featured on the cover and the cancellation is the infamous Selangor Darul Ehsan arch along Federal Highway which link from Kuala Lumpur to Petaling Jaya. As a commemoration of the cession of Kuala Lumpur to the federal government to form a Federal Territory by Selangor, the building of the arch was commissioned by the late Sultan of Selangor, Almarhum Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah on 1 February 1974. This arch symbolises the sacrifice of the Selangor state to the federal government. This arch was officially opened in 1981. The arch's design incorporates influences from Moorish architecture. This can be seen in the domes on the arch.

1983 Hornbill

1983 Hornbill

"1983 Hornbill private cachet"

This was a funny item which I have won bidding from the ebay. It was actually a private cachet for the hornbill issue. The cover was not of the original size from the normal. I would guess that it is something like 7" x 9". Apparently someone have mass produced this item as I have seen it in ebay more than once. From the printing work, I would also guess that someone have mass produced this item in the olden days.

The cover was well theame with picture featuring the hornbill. The drawing should be water colored and they really look nice. However, there was one odd thing which I can't really figure out until now: "Why does a hornbill go along with a parrot?"

Can any reader of this blog solve this puzzle. I have done some research and found out that the parrot is actually "Sulphur-crested Cockatoo"

The Sulphur-crested Cockatoo is a large white parrot. It has a dark grey-black bill, a distinctive sulphur-yellow crest and a yellow wash on the underside of the wings. Sexes are similar, although the female can be separated at close range by its red-brown eye (darker brown in the male). This is a noisy and conspicuous cockatoo, both at rest and in flight. Young Sulphur-crested Cockatoos resemble the adults.

The Sulphur-crested Cockatoo's range extends throughout the northern and eastern Australia mainland, and Tasmania. A small population has become established around Perth, Western Australia. The species also occurs in New Guinea and the Aru Islands, and has been introduced into New Zealand and Indonesia.

See what I meant? This bird does not even origin from Malaysia (except in the Zoo or pet shop). Why would it go along with the Malaysia hornbill on this cover? Could this cover be made off-shore (not in Malaysia). My guess would be the Australia made this as I have seen quite a fair bit of parrot in Brisbane.

Anybody have the answer to this mistery is welcome to share.

1989 Malpex

1989 Malaysia Philatelic Exhibition ("MALPEX")

Before starting today blog, I wish to say sorry to all the fan of this blog as there was no update for like one month long. The fact was that I had migrated to Australia. To get use to the environment here and start my life all anew really took some time. I have just got my internet hook up and thus can continue to write philately blog again. YEAH!!

I am also starting to collect Australia philately items. So perhaps the I would share some with you all in "Uniquely Australia" blog next time.. who knows.

" MALPEX'89 Exhibition Cover"

MALPEX was held in 1989 in Manara Maybank from 24 March to 2 April (10 days). I have no idea how large the event was but it was surely great for a 10 days event. The cover illustrate a Malaysia flag with Menara Maybank (at Jalan pudu) at the side.

The exhibition covers as above have preprinted 20 sen "stamp" on it feature the Oil Palm. The agricaltural series is the longest states definitives series in malaysia.

"Daily cancellation"

As with most of the stamp exhibition, daily cancellation was available. However, no exhibition cancellation noted. The cancellation featured the usual staff: hibiscus, map of malaysia, stamp, Pos Malaysia logo, Maybank logo, Visit Malaysia Year etc. Nothing too interesting except they have shapes like octagon and oval.

"Malpex - Youth Day"

Among the exhibition, I have recently discovered this to be an intereting cover. Well, this item actually fall under a thematic collection of "stamp under glass". It is basically featuring stamp, cancellation or cover with stamp under manifying glass. I have not heared about this theme until I visited the webside by Judy Hornady here.

Go there and have a look at that webside. I hope you can enjoy it as I am.

2008 100th Anniversary of St. John

2008 100th Anniversary of St. John

It has always been a good thing that Pos Malaysia allowed the public to do their own first day cover and have it stamp at the counter. From my understanding, some postal service in country like Singapore and Australia would not let the philatelist do that anymore. All FDCs have to be pre-order. It will then be readily-made and be collected/sent to the buyer after they are issue. Thus, in Malaysia, with some creativity and delicate hand, you can make a one-and-only-special FDC.

Pos Malaysia stamps often have very nice design on the no-value tab. you will only get a tab if you buy full pane of stamp (normally in the amount of 20 stamp per pane). For this issue, I have bought a oversize blank cover and arrange the stamp side-by-side with its tab, creating a very nice visual effect.

But now looking at it, I should have make the red on top, yellow in the middle and green at the bottom. It will then look like a traffic light. hehehehe.

What do you think of my creation?