Stamp Fair

 

(From right to left:) Uncle Haji Mohamed Abdullah telling my brother, Ali and sister Anisah about the story behind one of the stamps while Aeshah, mum and I picked out the stamps we would like to buy.

On the 12th and 13th of March, 2011, the Philatelic Society of Malaysia organised a stamp fair at the Petaling Jaya Community Library. Stamp dealers from many parts of Malaysia came to sell postage stamps and other related goods. Apart from buying stamps, you can walk over to the center of the hall where some stamps were being displayed or submit your name to the counter in front of the entrance to join the lucky draw.

 

'Lifestyle of the Aboriginal People of Malaysia' First Day Cover

My family and I went to the stamp fair on both days. We bought lots of stamps from a wonderful gentleman, Uncle Haji Mohamed Abdullah from Penang. The best part of dealing with him is that he knows the history of the stamps he sells and he’ll be glad to tell you all about them. My little brother enjoyed walking from table to table looking at the different stamps sold. While waiting for the rest of us to choose our stamps, he went to see the exhibited stamps and joined the lucky draw. Alhamdulillah, he won a the ‘Lifestyle of the Aboriginal People of Malaysia’ First Day Cover and the ‘Aquatic Plants’ presentation pack. All of us tried our luck the next day, and this time my dad won a key chain while my younger sister, Aeshah won a mug.

 

'Aquatic Plants' presentation pack - front cover

I believe that going to a stamp fair is one of the best ways to meet other stamp collectors and to learn more about stamps. We can also buy those wonderful stamps to expand our collections as well as to look for a particular stamp that we need to complete its set. I hope that we would be able to go to the next stamp fair which would be held in June.

 

'Aquatic Plants' presentation pack - inside

 

'Aquatic Plants' presentation pack - back cover

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Stamp Collecting

A page from my stamp album

 

I had been introduced to stamp collecting since I was a little girl. Both of my parents collect stamps and they both have beautiful collections of stamps from most parts of the world. However, it wasn’t until I was 10 when I started to have a real interest in stamp collecting.

I was reading an article from a magazine at my school library about a girl who had collected more than a thousand stamps by the age of 8. When I went back home, I took out my dad’s stamp albums and look at the arrays of stamps neatly arranged inside them. For the first time, I was fascinated by stamp collecting and decided to start my own.

My first few stamps were given to me by my Indonesian classmate who received letters from her families and relatives in Indonesia. Unfortunately due to my carelessness, I lost them all and I really regretted it.

Nevertheless, it was my parents who helped me a lot in stamp collecting. My father bought me a stamp album two years after I started collecting stamps; it was when he thought that I was already serious with my hobby. He also gave me stamps from his letters.

My mother however, gave me lots of stamps from her own collection and some dated back to her schooldays. She told me how people threw away most used stamps that were very common during those days. Had she kept them, she could have sold them now for a good price. I guess that is the reason why I have more than a page filled with ‘Alophoixus ochraceus‘ (Merbah Beringin) stamps in my stamp album. If you live in Malaysia, it is impossible to miss the stamps since they appear on almost every letter sent by the Malaysian Postal Service or Pos Malaysia.

My good friend, Aishah Salihue (whose parents are from Sri Lanka but is living in the USA), mailed me US and Sri Lankan stamps every now and then. Even her wonderful grandfather gave me lovely Sri Lankan stamps when we met at Aishah’s house in San Jose in 2006.

 

A day with Aishah in the backyard of her house in San Jose. From left: My sister, Aeshah; Aishah; me; Aishah's brother, Ali; and Anisah (far right) in a pink sweater.

My collection consists mainly of Malaysian stamps especially the ‘Birds of Malaysia’ series and the ‘Malaysian Agro-Based Definitive Stamp’ series. Although I haven’t collected the entire set of both series, I hope to be able to collect a complete set of the mint stamps and a complete set of used stamps from both series.

 

Some of my stamps from the 'Birds of Malaysia' series. I have more than a page of these.

In fact, I would like to expand my collection as big as I could. If only I could be as lucky as my mother to inherited a lovely collection of Malaysian stamps from her grandfather and a really wonderful collection of Malaysian and foreign stamps from her aunt when she was about eight…

However, stamp collecting is losing its popularity among today’s youngsters and I suppose it is harder to get wonderful stamps in our mails now than it was during my parents’ schooling days. Perhaps we should start writing more letters instead of sending e-mails; furthermore receiving letters are much more exciting than getting e-mails, at least for me 🙂

A Fire At Bukit Kecil

There was a fire in Bukit Kecil (Small Hill) in Kuala Terengganu burning down more than 19 hectares of the forest. Bernama said that the fire started at about 2pm yesterday but was extinguished at night when there was a heavy rainfall. However, the forest was reignited earlier this afternoon due to the hot and windy weather.

For rest of the news, read below :

TERENGGANU, 7 Feb (Bernama)– Lebih 19 hektar kawasan hutan di Bukit Kecil di sini musnah dalam kebakaran yang bermula petang semalam, bagaimanapun keadaan kebakaran kini terkawal dengan beberapa kawasan masih mengalami kebakaran kecil.

Penolong Penguasa Bomba Kuala Terengganu Mohd Khairul Anuar berkata Isnin, lebih 100 anggota dan pegawai bomba termasuk pelatih dari Akademi Bomba Wakaf Tapai dan Bomba Sukarela Kuala Nerus Manir bertungkus lumus 24 jam untuk mengawal kebakaran itu.

Katanya kebakaran bermula kira-kira 2 petang semalam dan hujan lebat tengah malam telah membantu memadamkannya, bagaimanapun kebakaran itu merebak semula tengah hari ini akibat keadaan berangin dan cuaca panas.

Setakat pukul 4 petang ini, anggota bomba masih lagi menjalankan operasi pengawalan api dan beberapa kawasan di hutan itu masih mengalami kebakaran kecil.

“Sebaik menerima panggilan kecemasan, kita telah menghantar jentera dan anggota bomba untuk mengawal kebakaran daripada merebak ke kawasan kediaman dan beberapa bangunan milik kerajaan yang terletak berhampiran kawasan kejadian,” katanya kepada Bernama.

Antaranya bangunan Jabatan Pelajaran Negeri Kuala Terengganu, Jabatan Kimia, Radio Televisyen Malaysia Bukit Pak Apil dan Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Chong Hwa Wei Sin.

Mohd Khairul berkata bomba masih menyiasat punca sebenar kejadian kebakaran hutan tersebut.

— BERNAMA