In less than 2 weeks we will be celebration the 50th Anniversary of our nation’s birthday. Around this time, there are many articles relating to this event being published in the local media. One of them is on the Malaysian stamps issued pertaining to Merdeka and The Star today has an article about this exhibition at the Penang Museum.

Just wondering why a similar exhibition is not held in Kuala Lumpur. After all, this is the nation’s capital and the bulk of the collectors are based here. Over to you, Pos Malaysia.

Merdeka stamps galore

PENANG: An array of first-day covers and stamps released to commemorate Merdeka on Aug 31, 1957 are being displayed at the Penang Museum.

The historic stamps and covers, some from private collections, will be exhibited for a month on the first floor of the double-storey museum in conjunction with the 50th Merdeka Anniversary Philatelic Exhibition 2007.

Engrossed: Visitors John van Langeveld and his daughter Linda admiring some of the Merdeka collections at the museum yesterday.

“Although the covers and stamps are not rare collections, we felt that the exhibition is meaningful because most of the younger generation did not have the opportunity to see the commemorative stamps released 50 years ago,” said one of the exhibitors, Lim Ken Beng, who has 30 official Merdeka Day covers and 50 unofficial covers.

Two of his framed official Merdeka Day covers are displayed at the museum.

“The most important collection is the Merdeka Day cover with official cover bearing the government emblem,” said Lim, an engineering manager who started collecting stamps about 30 years ago.

The exhibition is jointly organised by the Penang Museum and Penang Philatelic Society, and sponsored by Pos Malaysia Bhd.

The society’s oldest active member Abdul Salaam Mohd Anver said the 10-cent Malaya stamp bearing the portrait of Tunku Abdul Rahman was now worth RM6.

“The original cover could cost about RM100 each,” he said.