The Anthem Philatelist

This is my third visit to the Singapore Philatelic Museum. The museum featured 5 current exhibits in addition to their permanent exhibit. Elephant Stampede- which traces the evolution of these giant creatures from mammoth to elephants, their shrinking habitats and the factors which led to their destruction.    It also highlighted the symbolism of elephants in Asian culture and religion- like how some kings reincarnated into elephants and the Hindu God Ganesh which had an half elephant body. T he exhibit ended on how we humans can help the elephants in their quest for survival. I enjoyed the interactive session, differentiating elephants from Africa and Asia. African elephants are bigger, have 5 toes and larger ears shaped like Africa while their Asian counterparts are smaller, have 4 toes and ears shaped like India.      I was able to see "Baby Emily", an elephant made of postage stamp designed by lo cal sculptor and artist Mr. Sun Yu-Li. This was in c...

In line with 150th birth centenary of our National Hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, several tourism and philatelic related activities are ongoing. The Department of Tourism (DoT) opened the "Lakbay Jose Rizal @ 150," a year-long tour that allows tourists to retrace the national hero's steps by visiting as many as 27 Rizal sites in the country. Participants will be given "Lakbay passports" and a spec al stamp for every Rizal site they visit.   The National Historical Commission of the Philippines, in partnership with the Philippine Postal Corporation , also held a stamp design contest entitled “150TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF JOSE RIZAL STAMP DESIGN CONTEST” with the theme Rizal: Haligi ng Bayan. The contest was participated by students, amateurs and professionals and judging was held last March 1, 2011 at the NHCP Building. Dir. Jeremy Barns of the National Museum ; Dr. Ngo Tiong Tak from Philippine Postal Corporation, Mr. Danilo Pangan from the National Commission fo...

Malacca's rich cultural history makes it a haven of museums. One of the several museums located here is the The Malacca Stamp Museum (Muzium Setem Melaka) was formerly the Melaka State Museum. It is also known as the "Sekolah Gambar". Originally, it was used as the residence for Dutch dignitaries living in Malacca. On March 19, 1954, G.E. Wisdom, the resident commissioner of Melaka converted this building into a state museum. However in 1982, the museum was moved to the Stradthuys . Now it houses the Melaka Stamp Museum . The Department of Museums and Antiquity has gazetted it as an ancient monument according to section 15 of the Antiquities Act.   The museum showcases various stamps, first day covers, philatelic products and bank notes. The museum opens daily from 9am to 5 pm except Mondays and during Friday lunchtime (12 noon-2:45 pm). It is presently located at the St. Paul's Hill , in between the Islamic Museum and Umno Museum .  Admission is 1 Ringg...

My first visit to the Singapore Philatelic Museum was a truly memorable experience. This museum- Southeast-Asia's first and only philatelic museum- is located in 23-B Coleman St., Singapore was formerly part of an Anglo-Chinese School completed in 1904. In 1970's the building became a Methodist Book Room until it was restored to become the present museum.    This museum opened in 19 August 1995 to promote interest in and the appreciation of Singapore's philatelic history. Besides the permanent galleries, the themed galleries offer a host of themed exhibitions throughout the year. In one of these galleries, an exhibit featuring old postcards of Singapore were shown (Panoramic postcard of old Singapore at the bottom most picture).    Displays from private collections of renowned philatelist, travelling exhibitions and themed exhibitions to commemorate new stamp issues are also shown.    There also have a stamp shop where I was able to buy the special comm...