Kreta Ayer Stamp Society 30th Anniversary

I read on the Facebook Sgstampers Group about Kreta Ayer Stamp Society's 30th Anniversary. Wow, it is good to know that stamps societies in Singapore continue to receive support from both stamp collectors as well as the authorities.

The actual celebration will be held on 20th June 2009 (Saturday) 6pm at China Square Central Exhibition Hall. The Guest of Honour is Dr Yaacob Ibrahim (Minister) and VIP includes Dr Fatimah Lateef (MP). Two books will also be launched in conjunction with the 30th Anniversary celebrations 1) Thematic Children Series - Stamp (Chinese) by Ms Tai Foong Choo, and 2) Our Heritage - Customs, Traditions, Culture - Stamps & Hong Bao (English) by Mdm Camalapan.

Looks like this week is an exciting week for stamps collectors, we have firstly the 150 Years of Singapore Botanical Garden issue, and then the 30th Anniversary of the KASS. It is somewhat rare to have so many stamps related events in 1 week. Hmm I thinnk we should have more events to drum up the signature and attractiveness of stamps colelcting. :)

Singapore Botanical Gardens 150 Years Issue

Stamps often mark the important dates of a nation's development. So after the recent MRT - Circle Line issue, we have the coming issue of 150 Years of Singapore Botanical Gardens.

Botanical gardens is a wonderful place, really. It's a sea of peace and beauty in the middle of this concrete island. It offers some quiet places while at the same time is accessible easily geographically between Bukit Timah and Orchard Road.

They have done a good job of maintaining the place, and adding in events like concerts that make the place more lively. It is fun strolling along the path during evenings, and just enjoying the scenery. Of course, there are not just trees at the Botanical Gardens but many lakes of fishes and ducks (and tortoises).

So it's not surprising that its 150 years passing will be marked by a stamp issue on 19th June 2009. 150 years is just a short period of time compared to some of the older heritage trees at the Botanical Gardens.

The stamp issues are much nicer than my photographs above, and here's some pictures from the SingPost website. There will be a set of 4 stamps, 2 'Local 1st' and 2 '$1.10', as well as a miniature sheet with a $2 stamp depicting a pair of black swans (or are they ducks?).

Embroidered Stamp - Pigeon Orchid definitives

I finally managed to get some sets of the embroidered flower definitives. Here's SingPost's description of this issue. The set was out since early May but I couldn't find time to queue at the post office. The queue during lunch time at the post office could get quite long. So here's how the collector's set looks like.

Here's a closer look at the embroidery where the flowers look 'special'. The face value of the embroidered stamp is $5, but I'm sure no one will really use it for postage purpose. I wonder how many collectors' sets did SingPost issue.

Unlike the earlier beaded stamp issue by SingPost, embroidered stamps have been around for some time. Swiss Post started it in June 2000, and Austria did so too in year 2005 and 2008. Nonetheless I think collectors do welcome such innovative issues from the Philatelic Bureau that add more fun to the collection.

SingPost Returned Mail Sticker

Ever wonder what happens if your mail / letter doesn't reach the addressee or that the address written is wrong? In such cases, the postman can't deliver the letter and the letter is returned. I also know of incidents when recipients would write a 'wrong person' and dumped the mail into the letterbox and it gets returned to the sender if the sender's address is written.

Here's a sticker on the letter (picture below) that couldn't reach the intended addressee. SingPost will tick on the correct box to let the sender know the reason for failing to deliver the letter. I remember that we used to have 'cancellation' type of returned mail instead of a sticker, i.e. it is a stamped mark with reasons. I guess a sticker is easier for the postman handling the returned mail.

2 new additions to the Flora & Fauna Definitives Stamps

SingPost has announced two new additions to the 'Flora & Fauna' definitives that were released in 2007. The two additions will be made available from 6 May onwards. The details of the two additions could be found on SingPost's website.

The additions are two stamps of first local, featuring the Blue Pea Vine and Pigeon Orchid. I suspect that the additions are due to the lack of flora representatives in the 2007 definitives. The descriptions provided at the SingPost website commented that additions were added for variety. Take a look at the 2007 release, and we could see that only the 1st Local and 2nd Local are flora (Frangipanni and the Torch Ginger), so maybe they added another two flora for balance. It is good that they engage the same Designer, Wong Wui Kong, as the 2007 definitive series for consistency in the overall designs.

It will be nice if they can include all definitives together, so that when we read the yearbook, we have a complete picture of the stamps descriptions. Oh well, I guess such additions also add a bit of variations to stamp collecting.

Singapore related stories in the Stamp Magazine

When I read through magazines like 'Stamp Magazine', I realised that there is a considerable amount of interest in Singapore's philately development. Part of the reason is our colonial heritage, where the British and Commonwealth collectors would be interested in each area's philately development.

The interest exhibited by the journalists covered both recent stamps issues as well as old Straits Settlement era items. For example the first beaded stamp issue attracted quite some attention. By the way, the item shown in the picture below is now fetching $68, and it originally cost only $8 (last year)!

Here's another two articles from Stamps Magazine, touching on the Straits Settlement era stories. Frankly I don't see how people of the early nineteen century would have enough money to keep a $500 postage stamp. So the stamp on the bottom left is rare indeed, and likely used more of revenue accounting purpose.

Occasionally one picked up snippets of historical development, e.g. Malayan Postage Union's Postage Due ceased to be in circulation in 1968, 3 years after Singapore gained independence. So one would expect to see these postage due stamps on letters between 1965 to 1968 then. What is also interesting is the story of how there is only 32 mint specimens left. These snippets of philately related development added much colour and fun to stamp collecting.

When you pass by our libraries, take a look at these stamp magazines and you may find other interesting stories inside.

Postcards from Thailand, London, Stockholm, and Berne

I have cultivated a habit such that I will send myself a postcard whenever I travel overseas. Over the years I have collected a number of these cards from Europe and Asia. I guess they served as mementos from the travel, with date and stamp attached.

Here's a few of the postcards from London, Berne, and Stockholm. The Christmas theme postcard (upper right corner) is shiny when under the right light conditions, and the postcard from London (left) depicting a postal activity is actually quite funny.

The back of the postcards, with the cancellations and stamps attached.

One of the countries that I frequent more often is Thailand for both work (mostly) and leisure reasons, and so I have three of the postcards. Sometimes I will use the free postcard available from the hotels, but at other times I simply buy an interesting looking card from the shops.

Postcards are interesting, and I think recent years there seems to be more interests surrounding postcards, e.g. post-crossing and such. I think that is partly due to the casual networking associated with such a postcard, with relevant pictures depicting the cities, that make them interesting.