One for the Birds

"Singapore Stamps & Money: One for the Birds" by Dr Wee Yeow Chin, Dr Tan Wee Kiat & Ms Wang Luan Keng.

A collection of children's books co-authored by Dr Tan Wee Kiat.

The Book Advisors are Dr Ruth Wong Y L and   Victor Koo H P .

A mini-conference in session.

Once again, we are happy to be invited by Wee Kiat to the "soft" book launch for the new stamp-based book, "Singapore Stamps & Money: One for the Birds", published. While the book is about birds there are paragraphs on VIPs such as Goh Keng Swee, Loke Wan Tho, Malcolm MacDonald, etc.

In his email invitation, Wee Kiat said: "There will be a 'soft' book launch for the book. ('Soft' book launch because only soft drinks, eg., kopi-o/teh-o, will be served with the complimentary autographed-for-you copy of the book.".

When:  Saturday, 20 August 2011 from 1.00pm to 2.30pm
Where:  KopiTiam FoodCourt, adjacent to NTUC Supermarket, in SingPost HQ Basement.

Thimbuktu was the trained "kopi kia" ("Coffee Boy" in Hokkien) for the day - with a  Greet, Smile and Thanks (GST) service.

Welcome Unk Dicko ! Dick Yip to perform his version of the Singapore home-made composed song "Lang Ting Tang" on his ukelele.

Second on the left of this photo is James Kwok, a consultant expert in child psychology. Seen here is James (not Thimbuktu) listening carefully to his young friends, with an ear cupped to demonstrate the art of body language. Sitting on the right is Dr Tan Wee Kiat, listening in with a smile.

T C Lai (colorful polo shirt and white bermuda) telling Philip Chew and Shaik Kadir about growing up in Geylang .

T C Lai, a regular blogger and a "Singapore Memory Ambassador".

Shaik Kadir speaking about his "Memories of Geylang Serai while Andy Young beside him was dreaming about the next selection of Singapore pop songs of the 60s for his readers and fans at his blog under his musical influence.

Yeo Eng Hong with his wife, gleaming with roasted delight (see the stall name in the background) to show off the new book autographed by Wee Kiat.

Mrs Tan Wee Kiat introducing our new FOYer friend at the gathering.

Victor mesmerized with a copy of the new book, "hot from the oven". "Don't you love the fresh scent of paper, ink, and glue?" he asked.

Wee Kiat pointing out some tips on printing process of the glossy pages to share with Victor.

Unk Dicko asking T C "Huh, in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp?"

A group photo of the Friends of Yesterday (FOYers) and guests at the book launch.

Where are the "action-packed" photos above of my blog mentor, advisor and veteran nostalgia blogger Lam Chun See who met me several years ago to inspire me to start blogging as a hobby. Chun See is the system management consultant of "My 5S Corner" , the author of his "Staff Suggestions Systems" book "Ideas@Work"?

In this group photo, Chun See is the "cool guy who rocks with blogs" at Good Morning Yesterday shown here. Almost all these photos are the book launch gathering photographed by him.

Thank you, Chun See for posting these photos to his Flickr page immediately after the event.

We had a wonderful fun-filled day to share with our "friends of yesterday" and friends of everyday at the gathering and we did not feel like going home.

Anyways, the party was over and most of our friends have their own business or personal matters to attend to.

Next time again when Wee Kiat will offer us another reunion with the launch of the next book. Perhaps when Chun See's upcoming book (Shh..keep that a secret and give all of us a surprise)!

While looking through Wee Kiat's new book "Singapore Stamps & Money: One for the Birds" at home later, I was very impressed by this energetic and active senior citizen friend.

Awesome! A dozen books in his collection of stamp-based books to-date.

His books are not marketed commercially for profit. Almost all of these books are published from his own pockets and other sponsors, friends and well-wishers.

The latest book is sponsored by his wife, Mrs Tan Wee Kiat.

According to Wee Kiat, these small stamp-based books are targetted at schoolchildren, not adults.

A friend once asked me why I didn't try to write bigger books, like the other Dr Tan Wee Kiat who wrote the well-known Singapore flora and fauna books, "Singapore: Yours Naturally" and "Gardens of the Istana".

"My reply was that I am writing topics for schoolchildren and, to keep their attention, one must Keep It Short and Simple (the KISS formula).

Interestingly, one bonus I found from my simple stamp-based books was that ADULTs also liked the format", he said.

In my email to Wee Kiat to seek his onsent to blog about the book launch, I wrote:

"This is not a book review of the latest "Singapore Stamps & Money: One for the Birds" book as I am not qualified to do so.

Your books on stamps is inspirational. Stamp-collecting is an educational, interesting and enjoyable hobby not only for young students.  Many young stamp-collector students of yesterdays have grown up to become the grandparents of today and the young ones today would pass on this hobby to the grandparents of the future.

The splendid efforts, time and energy you have taken to publish these books with the co-authors will benefit our readers for posterity...not only in Singapore.  These books will spread far and wide to philatelists all over the world".

Thank you for your gracious consent, Wee Kiat.

His previous "Book about Singapore Stamps" was blogged here .

The following are the related blogs on "Blog To Express" about postage stamps:

1. Do away with postage stamps .

2. Stamps opened his mind to the world .

3. Stamps of Merit .

The passion and interest in publishing these collection of theme-based books of stamp-collecting for young and old by Wee Kiat and his co-authors is inspirational.

Keep up the great work, Wee Kiat.  The young stamp-collectors today will be able to pass on these books to their next generation of grandchildren when they become the grandparents in the future.