Sunday, February 10, 2008
Possessions of Vietnamese philatelist
February 9, 2008 Saturday
DATELINE: Ha Noi February 9
Do Thanh Kim, 68 years old, a resident in Ho Chi Minh City, is the owner
of some unique stamp collections, which he had collected for nearly 50
years.
"Kim's collections have been considered as the largest in Viet Nam ,"
said Phung Thang Binh, Deputy President of the Ho Chi Minh City
Philately Association.
His collections includes one named "Year's Eve" as the stamps were
issued on the thresholds of the Lunar New Years of all 12 animals
representing each year like Rat, Buffalo, Tiger, Cat, Dragon, Snake,
Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.
Kim's latest collection was "Rats welcome Mau Ty Tet", issued by Japan
with rats wearing various lovely costumes.
Besides, he also owns collections of stamps issued for a year of the
Snake by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , a year of the
Monkey by the Philippines , a year of Dog by Ireland and a year of the
Rooster by New Zealand .
Kim said that stamps of 12 animals that represent lunar years were first
issued by Japan , then China , the Republic of Korea , Thailand , Laos
and Cambodia . Later, some Islamic countries like Indonesia , Malaysia ,
and Afghanistan followed suit.
In Viet Nam , this kind of stamps was issued for the first time in Ha
Noi in 1966 or the Year of the Horse, but it was not until 1993 that the
issuance of these stamps was made continually.
The world now has over 1,000 samples of 12 animal designations. Not only
philatelists, but also people living far from home love to buy stamps of
these animals as a gesture of nostalgia, to pray for luck and to tell
their off springs about their cultural idealities.
Kim said these stamps helped him better understand famous people of all
fields and festivals in the world.
Kim also owns collections of stamps of icebergs, volcano, wild animals
and history of railways. He owned a collection of stamps of the Chinese
Qin Dynasty age, the 1954-74 Sai Gon Regime. His collection of stamps of
trains was considered as the largest collection on the theme in Viet Nam
.
"I was very interested in collecting stamps when I was a pupil. When I
was able to earn money, I bought stamps and I have been collecting
stamps everyday," Kim said.
Established I December 1960, the Viet Nam Philately Association now has
32 chapters with 10,000 members and 200 Philately Clubs. Kim is an
advisor of the VietStamp Club and member of the Executive Committee of
the Ho Chi Minh City Philately Association.
