Dawn broke in the serene town. The whiff of roti canai from Bismillah Restoran still strong since 1900… the next meal might be late today. The expedition and the items entrusted would be a heavy commitment. Soon it was a brisk walk to the town square.
Booths were being tidied up.. 8:30 am now, the roads are sealed and guests are making its way. Friends and concordanists from afar are making their way… they did not read carefully… they will need to wait until noon. I guess even in the digital age, not many believe what they read.
The philatelists waited in excitement and chatted with each other catching up in person rather than the one liners of Facebook or Whatsapp.
The musical beat announced the arrival of the distinguished guests led by the Menteri Besar of Perak. It was a splendid parade to the event tent.
Once the speeches were over, it was the long anticipated event of the morning… the launch of the 150 Years of Taiping Stamp! A quick signature on a replica Miniature Sheet and …a postman on his bicycle arrived… posto, posto…. ring, ring… smartly he walked up to the Menteri Besar and out from his bag was the Folder Set. Soon the other guests of honour on stage received their own folder sets. Once the photo ops were over, the sale began!
The philatelists started to form a queue along with walk in public curious to know what it is.
Happy faces from as far north as Alor Star and as far south as Johor Bharu!
The first day of issue philatelic cancellation “Taiping” was available at Dataran Warisan Taiping.
Meanwhile back at the Taiping Municipal Gallery…
A long line was building up. 3 lines actually…
- To place and order and buy.
- To collect the order.
- To cancel their items with both cancellations (Taiping first day of issue and 150 Years of Taiping Stamp Exhibition)
Customers waiting for their orders and cancelling their items.
Cancellation queue.
The “back office” was all hands on deck to organise each unique order before calling up the customer to collect.
The sale was brisk and ALL the empty covers were sold out! There were additional stocks from Ipoh and even Kuala Lumpur …. however they were all snapped up! It was indeed a good sign that there is still strong interest in commemorative stamp issues. Perhaps it is time we go back to commemorating such events.
It was then a cooling time at Ansari with additional red beans!
Here are my expeditionary items.
- Official First Day Cover Pair
- Official First Day Composite Cover
- A cover made by some philatelists from Penang whom have a booth beside the Pos Malaysia booth in Dataran Warisan Taiping
- A Majlis Perbandaran Taiping Cover which I had to fork out RM 22 to buy 2 Taiping Zoo tickets in order to get an envelope! Such was the price to pay for a really good envelope! But then.. I can bring someone along for a visit to the Zoo before 2027!
At last I guess I have put another first into the 33 firsts of Klian Pauh!
It was time for Doli and Original Taiping Yong Tau Foo for a happy ending!
Today (21 January 2024) was a wrap up of my exhibition cover! My original expedition was also completed! It is worth celebrating with a Surr Delicious meal at 786! Here is to Philately, You’ll be Greater than Before!
By the way… here are the concordant locations:
The Old Taiping Market is undergoing reconstruction… so nothing to show.
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