Stamps opened his mind to the world

The following is the letter written by Professor Tommy Koh, Chairman, National Heritage Board published in today's Straits Times Forum Page.

[Quote]

I would like to share with readers my response to Mr Lim Chong Teck’s letter, "Do away with postage stamps” (Nov 10).

I was an avid stamp collector when I was in primary and secondary schools. Collecting stamps helped to educate me and brought me joy. It was through my stamp collection that I became knowledgeable about world geography and excelled in that subject in school.

The stamps opened my mind to history, historical personalities, arts, culture and the wonders of the natural world. Collecting stamps also taught me to be disciplined, methodical and to find happiness in a wholesome hobby.

Collecting stamps is something which parents and children can do together and is a bonding experience.

Let me quote a section from a lovely poem, Stamp Collecting, by one of Singapore's best poets, Boey Kim Cheng:

Starting with Australia, she slides the
stamps
behind the filmy strip, the album
breathing
promise in its fresh gluey feel, the world
being collected and unfolding as it fills up
shelf by shelf. As her five-year-old
fingers
gingerly slip the countries into place, the
questions
spill out, like the stamps from an old
album
I opened yesterday, forgotten pressed
flowers
of a time when the world arrived
in a philatelic queue, surviving
emblems from my stamp-mad phase

Tommy Koh
Chairman
National Heritage Board

[Unquote]

Thanks to Professor Tommy Koh for sharing his stamp collecting experience with readers of The Straits Times.

If you would like to share your personal experience and joy of stamp collecting on this blog, you are welcome to post your comments here or submit your contribution as a guest blogger to thimbuktu@hotmail.com. Thank you.