Feeling philatelic

I still remember the excitement when I see any letter at all in the mail, whether it was for me or not, it did not matter. If there's a stamp on it, it just had to be mine. Of course, that stirred a certain level of competitiveness with my little brother. My dad, being a very enthusiastic stamp collector during his heydays, had a book full of stamps he collected when he was younger and it was quite fascinating to see stamps from countries like Canada, the US of A, Mexico and first-day covers as well! So, when he distributed some of his stamps to fill up the first few pages of both our newly-bought stamp album, we were pretty elated. Literally. Like when a bear gets honey. Okay, maybe not like that but similar!

Sutera Mall has been great at constantly holding exhibitions for the past two months. Previously, they had exhibitions about the great explorer, Cheng Ho which I enjoyed very much and another familiar little thing called Effective Microorganisms. The latest one's about stamps from Malaysia, Singapore and China. Being a former philatelic enthusiast myself, I really did not want to miss this exhibition.

The stamps displayed were all mostly from China, Singapore, Macau and Malaysia. But there were also probably a display or two of stamps from other countries like Britain and USA. From the first board, explaining the origins of stamp collecting, to the last display of stamps, I was amazed by how significant stamps were and how it usually commemorates a memorable or historical event, a local hero or depiction of the daily lives of the people. So much history and identity are encapsulated in the vignettes imprinted on paper, in hopes of bringing the locals into a time-capsule and the people of the world an outlook of the country.

The exhibition was an eye-opener for me and at the same juncture, a pictorial portrayal on some familiarity from my History books. History is after all, HIS-STORY, the story of men. Men as in mankind. Humanity. Us. You. Me.


(pardon the sucky quality of the pictures, these were taken via my humble phone)