Monday

Thanh Kim's Collection

VietNamNet Bridge - 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.
(Source: VNA)

No comments: