Lunar New Year Greetings
One of the earliest Lunar New Year (LNY) greeting by Pos Malaysia was in 1991. Pos Malaysia used postal slogans near the LNY month on the frankings for all mails. Here is an example:
In 1992, Pos Malaysia changed the corporate logo thus the franking was changed as well:
The greeting slogans continued every year until 2000 when the slogan was changed:
In 2001, the font was changed.
I found the last LNY greeting was in 2002. The envelope was also taxed due to insufficient postage. It was an application letter to the Human Resources Department. Needless to say the applicant was not selected for the interview!
Lunar New Year Stamps
2000 Year of the Dragon
It was also in 2000 that Pos Malaysia issued the first LNY stamp issue. It is the now famous Year of the Dragon stamps and miniature sheets. Here are the sheets:
For the complete visual of the collection of covers check out this link: https://myfdc.wordpress.com/malaysia-first-day-covers/1991-2000/2000-2/
2001 was the Year of the Snake but for some strange reason the Snakes stamps and miniature sheet (perforated and imperforated) were issued in 2002. Missed opportunity?
2003 Year of the Goat
Pos Malaysia was back – discreetly with the Southern Serow stamps. The LNY greetings were printed at the margin. However this series was not well received.
It was going to be a long time before anymore LNY stamps were issued.
2010 Year of the Tiger
I missed this in my initial write up. There was a tiger issue during that year and it was a joint stamp issue with Korea on “The 50th Anniversary of Malaysia – Korea Diplomatic Relations”. For visuals of the various covers check out: https://myfdc.wordpress.com/malaysia-first-day-covers/2001-2010/2010-2/
2011 Year of the Rabbit
In 2011, Pos Malaysia using the guise of Children’s Pets slipped in the Rabbit stamps in the 60 sen stamp and RM 5 miniature sheet. The initial response was poor and it was after a few weeks that non-traditional collectors realised this and started to buy the series. The FDCs ran out but the stamps can still be obtained today. Some MS can still be found.
Here is a composite FDC:
For a complete visual of the FDCs check out: https://myfdc.wordpress.com/malaysia-first-day-covers/2011-2020/2011-2/
2012 Year of the Dragon
As usual the demand in the Year of the Dragon is unusually high. Non-collectors also came in droves to snap up the series sneaked in as Legacy of the Loom.
For visuals of the overprints issued in exhibitions, check out: https://myfdc.wordpress.com/malaysia-first-day-covers/2011-2020/2012-2/
2013 Year of the Snake
This time the Year of the Snake issue is bundled into the Exotic Pets issue. The snake appears on the RM 3 and RM 5 miniature sheet.
2014 Year of the Horse
In the Year of the Horse, the title was aptly called Horses.
2015 Year of the Goat
In the Year of the Goat, the title of the issue was Farm Animals.
2016 Year of the Monkey
Pos Malaysia issued Primates of Malaysia Series 2 for the Lunar New Year.
The RM 3 MS was only released to SODA account.
2017 Year of the Rooster
Pos Malaysia issued Serama Roosters for the Lunar New Year.
2018 Year of the Dog
In the Year of the Dog, Pos Malaysia issued Animal with Various Special Roles – Working Dogs.
This postal slogan was introduced in January 2018 (date unrecorded but earlier than 18 January 2018) for franked mails. This cover was franked on Chinese New Year’s eve.
2019 Year of the Pig
In the Year of the Pig, Pos Malaysia issued Malaysian Festivals Series 3.
The alternate character for “pig” was written at the top of the firecracker.
The same 2018 postal slogan was available throughout January 2019 for franked mail.
2020 Year of the Rat
The 2020 series was not issued as a formal stamp programme and moved to become a Setem Ku Greetings series. This was released on 23 January 2020. Refer to the Setem Ku Lunar New Year sheetlets section.
However on 06 February 2020, Pos Malaysia released Malaysian Calligraphy Series 2 which was originally intended to be released on 20 January 2020. This is perhaps the delayed official Lunar New Year Series.
2021 Year of the Ox
Pos Malaysia indicated in the tentative stamp schedule that there will be a “Cattle Breeds of Malaysia” to be released on 25 February 2021. It was subsequently released on 18 March 2021. This is highly likely the intended Lunar New Year Series.
2022 Year of the Tiger
A Miniature Sheet featuring the Malayan Tiger was released on 17 March 2022. The issue was originally planned to be released on 10 February 2022 (information inside the 28 December 2021 SODA statement) under the title Care for Endangered Animals of Malaysia.
2023 Year of the Rabbit
A Miniature Sheet featuring the Rabbit is planned to be released on 14 February 2023. Again it is way past the Lunar New Year celebrations. I believe it is a deliberate decoupling from the lunar series as the coming of the year is easily known.
Setem Ku Lunar New Year sheetlets
2011 Year of the Rabbit
The first attempt by Setem Ku was in 2011 in the Year of the Rabbit. The original print had wrongly worded phrases but were recalled before it was sold, so no luck on unissued. Since the promotion was not enough, not many knew about this. However Setem Kus are only sold for a certain period of time (unlike the normal stamps), thus you will not be able to buy these after the sales period.
2012 Year of the Dragon
The Year of the Dragon Setem Ku was so hot, it was sold out on the same day as the Legacy of the Loom day of issue!
2013 Year of the Snake
A Year of the Snake Setem Ku was also issued.
Thus Setem Ku was only issued for 3 consecutive years.
There was no Setem Ku issued for the Year of the Horse in 2014.
2015 Doraemon Lunar Greetings
In 2015, a Doraemon special sheetlet set was released in conjunction with the Lunar New Year. It was released after the actual Lunar New Year but before the 15th Day. It was very quickly removed from sales.
2016 Year of the Monkey
A Setem Ku was again released in 2016 for the Year of the Monkey.
2017 Year of the Rooster
The trend continued in 2017 with the Setem Ku featuring the rooster.
2018 Happy Chinese New Year
In 2018, the Setem Ku featured the Chinese New Year themed designs.
2019 Happy Chinese New Year
In 2019, the Setem Ku again featured the Chinese New Year themed designs.
2020 Year of the Rat
Pos Malaysia released the Chinese New Year Greetings Personalised Stamp Sheetlet in the new (2017) Setem Ku vertical format. In addition, there was a folder set complete with folder, envelopes and postcards for this occasion.
2021 Year of the Ox
Pos Malaysia released the Year of the Ox Chinese New Year Greetings Personalised Stamp Sheetlet in the new (2017) Setem Ku vertical format. This is similar to the 2020 Setem Ku format. A folder set complete with folder, envelopes and postcards was also available in addition to single sheetlets.
There was no Setem Ku issued for the Year of the Tiger in 2022.
2023 Year of the Rabbit
A surprise Setem Ku for the Year of the Rabbit was released on 19 January 2023. This time there is only a mint sheetlet.
Are the Setem Kus coming back? Will it come out earlier in order to catch the new year card usage?
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