COVER N. 215 -  MALAYSIA

Postmark: Pusat Mel Kota Kinabalu - Sabah 07.11.22

Posted on the 7th November 2022; Received on the 19th February 2023

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Another much welcomed surprise, the more so since it allows me to tick another box in the list of countries: Malaysia.

A fellow collector took the liberty of writing me asking for a stamp swap. I will have to rapidly find something that falls within his sphere of interest to send him back, since he is probably thinking that either I didn't get the letter or I don't care to respond, given that so much time has passed since he mailed his letter. I know Malaysia is quite a long way from my little rectangle by the sea, but three and a half months is also quite a long time.... 

There is a touch of classy nostalgia in this, though.... in an age when everything is more instantaneous than preparing a cup of instant coffee, it does taste (nice pun, isn't it?) quite good to receive a letter that not only is handwritten, but also took its time to get here.

All things considered,  Thanks a lot Ka Ming! Response will be on its way as soon as possible... even if first I will have to order a couple of items to send you. All things going well, you should get it by the middle of the first monsoon....

Stamps, left to right, 

- On 12MAY2022 Pos Malaysia issued a three stamp set (50, 60 and 90 Malaysian sen) dedicated to the Waterfalls of Malaysia, each stamp featuring not only a photo of the waterfall itself but also a little thumbnail photo in the left lower corner of a flower, presumably associated with the waterfall location. 

The 60 sen stamp can be seen on the cover, and it features photos of the Tawai Waterfall  (Air Terjun Tawai) and of the Nepenthes rafflesiana, a famous carnivorous plant local to Sumatra, Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore.

- The  5 Ringgit stamp featuring the Malaysian Flag over a map of the country with the distinctive silhouettes of the Petronas towers, the tallest twin towers in the world (452 m tall) and  and the Kuala Lumpur Tower (421 m) is the highest value stamp of the set of 6 definitives issued on 01OCT2016, illustrated with images of sundry themes related to the country. 

- The 10 sen stamp illustrated with an image  allusive to Malaysian Festivals,  of which 5 can be seen on the cover, is the lesser face value stamp of this definitive series. 

- The 10 sen stamp illustrated with a painting of an Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) is part of a 6 stamp set dedicated to flowers issued on 31DEC2007.

- The very beautiful boat stamps featuring  a Lepa on the 1.5 Ringitt stamp and a Bangkong on the 30sen stamp constitute a set, issued by Pos Malaysia on 29JUN22 dedicated to traditional boats.

Lepas, I read, used to be the houseboats of the Sama-Bajau, communities that used to live mostly as sea nomads but who now are settling on land so much so that their house boats are now used as fishing and cargo boats.

The Bangkong were the war boats of the Dayak people, so tells me Wikipedia, Dayaks or Ibans being noted for their strange head hunting  hobby ........😀

The postmark informs that the envelope was mailed from the city of Kota Kinabalu, the capital of the Malaysian State of Sabah, in the island of Borneo.