Brunei United With World Fighting Terror

Amanda Yap
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Friday, September 26, 2014

BRUNEI stands united with the international community in combating terrorism in all its forms and rejects extremism, and supports all regional and international efforts in countering terrorism, His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam said yesterday.

His Majesty was speaking at the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly General Debate Session at the UN Headquarters Building in New York.

In his titah at the UN General Assembly, His Majesty said that Brunei has participated in UN peacekeeping, specifically UNIFIL, and other international peace monitoring missions in southern Philippines.

“We are gravely concerned with security developments in many parts of the world where further escalation of conflicts can weaken the international community’s resolve and ability to achieve our world-wide initiatives.

“Whilst there is relative peace and stability in the world, developments over the past year have reminded us how complex security issues, turmoil and instability arising from human activities can hinder progress for long-term development,” the monarch said.

Therefore, His Majesty said, Brunei would continue to participate in global initiatives such as interfaith dialogues and dialogues amongst civilisations to promote understanding, tolerance and respect amongst world communities.

His Majesty urged nations to “take concerted action in resolving the wide-ranging problems further aggravated by the rapid pace of globalisation and inter-connectedness”.

“The overall outlook is further complicated by challenges that are global in nature such as the impact of climate change, extremism, and terrorism, as well as the serious repercussions of pandemic diseases,” His Majesty said.

In this regard, the monarch was pleased at the unanimous agreement on the importance of environmental protection, lauding the convening of the UN Climate Summit in galvanising support to address the impact of climate change, and in ensuring a dynamic and transformative post-2015 development agenda.

His Majesty also underscored the importance of strengthening UN capabilities in disaster management, taking into account the frequent recurrence and greater intensity of natural disasters in recent years.

The monarch made mention of Brunei’s role in hosting a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise amongst military personnel from Asia Pacific nations last year – the first of its kind under the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus process.

His Majesty emphasised that the fundamental principle of mutual respect and trust – putting aside differences, upholding the rule of law and justice, and promoting cooperation – should serve as the basis for resolving conflicts, so that all can enjoy continued peace and stability.

In his titah, His Majesty also highlighted the fast-approaching targeted timeline of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), saying that Brunei was pleased to see the concerted global commitment and consensus to eradicate extreme poverty and further promote peace and sustainable development.

His Majesty welcomed the development agenda and its emphasis on the importance of human development which is inclusive, people-centred and sustainable.

“These elements are also integral to Brunei Darussalam’s National Vision 2035 which is dedicated to improving the welfare of our people and ensuring a high quality of life,” the monarch said.

However, His Majesty also stated that all efforts to realise the MDGs would be in vain, if at the same time, the world disregarded commitments to pursue peaceful means of settling disputes, as enshrined in the UN’s Charter.

“The potential escalation of disputes and threats to international peace and security has resulted in appalling human tragedies such as the downing of Flight MH17 and the current dire situation in Gaza,” the sovereign said.

On Palestine, His Majesty stressed that freedom and justice was long overdue.

“The endless suffering experienced by our Palestinian brothers and sisters is a stark example of how little our development goals mean if there is no peace and stability.

“(The Palestinian people) must be granted their basic rights to live in dignity and enjoy economic development,” he said, further expressing appreciation on the efforts of other countries which made the current ceasefire possible.

However, His Majesty was hopeful and confident that the UN’s adoption of the MDGs would ensure that generations to come would enjoy a secure and prosperous future.

Accompanying His Majesty was His Royal Highness Prince ‘Abdul Malik.

Also accompanying His Majesty were Second Minister of Finance at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Dato Seri Setia Haji Abd Rahman Hj Ibrahim, Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Dewa Dato Seri Setia Lim Jock Seng, and Permanent Representative of Brunei to the United Nations Dato Paduka Hj Abdul Ghafar Hj Ismail.

The Brunei Times

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Greek or Roman Gold Coins?

I was offered these two gold coins by my usual seller. He said that these were found among the treasure trove of Aceh gold coins. He was not sure where these coins originated from but he said they looked Greek or Roman. I am not sure either but I did buy these two gold coins from him. I am hoping there may be someone out there who can identify these two coins.

Two Lots of British Brunei Stamps

These two were listed under British Bruney. For that reason alone, many buyers missed these two sets. In fact the seller had a third set which was made up of miniature sheet which I did not buy. The first lot was not expensive. It was only US$3 which I thought was a worthwhile buy considering the variety of the stamps. The second one I had to pay US$10, which I thought at first was a good buy because of the definitives set but when I looked at the set again, there is a stamp missing in the definitive set. Overall still a worthwhile buy and since these two came from the same seller, I only had to pay for one postage.

Mix of Brunei Stamps

This lot only cost me GBP1.41, cheap, but the postage will cost me GBP2.20. It is a good lot and I don't know why nobody wants to enter into the auction. The range is fairly wide and the used stamps are the 1947 varieties and after but overall it is not a bad collection of Brunei stamps for the price I paid for the lot. Not to complete any set but a nice filler nevertheless.

Brunei's Labuan Overprints 1906

I paid US$116.39 for this lot of 1906 Labuan Overprints on eBay recently. I was quite surprised to get it at such a low price. I would have thought there would be more competitors when this item came up on eBay. A full set of mint Labuan Overprints is currently valued at around B$925. This lot even has one used one dated 1911. To me what makes it rare is that there are only 2,000 sets issued. So this complete lot is a very rare one of 2,000. This makes it my third complete set.

Brunei's Begawan Definitives 1952

This lot of mint 1952 Begawan Definitives cost me US$11.51 from an eBay seller in Hong Kong. According to Steven Tan's International Stamp & Coins Catalogue, this lot should be worth M$170 which is roughly around B$65. So US$11.51 is a good price and good value.

Used Brunei Stamps 1911 - 1924

I have been buying a number of used Brunei stamps lots on eBay over the last few months. I have all of these stamps but I keep on buying just to add to my stocks especially the used Brunei stamps. These are always valued higher. At A$14.80 this lot is a little bit higher than what I would have like to pay for them but they are worth the price given that they are mostly 1924 and before that. This one is from Queensland, Australia.

Used Begawan Stamps

This is another lot of Brunei stamps I managed to buy from eBay. This one only cost me US$2.24 for the entire lot which I thought was a great bargain. I have too many of these stamps already but I don't mind as I am paying just above two dollars for these stamps which have a much higher value in total. A few pieces are from the 1947 series and the rest are Begawan stamps which could either be 1952 or 1964 which I can't tell just by looking at the photograph. I can only tell when they arrived in Brunei which will probably take about two to four weeks from Hungary.

Brunei Used Stamps on eBay

I won this auction recently on eBay for GBP29 from a seller in Belgium. Given that most of these are used Brunei stamps which are normally valued higher than mint ones, that is probably a good value though I have not valued them one by one. The stamps are combination of the 1895, 1906 and the 1907 to 1924 series. I look forward to adding these to my stocks of stamps.

Brunei in China's 15th ASEAN-China Dialogue Cooperation Miniature Sheet 2006 Part II

Yesterday I posted about how in 2006, China and ASEAN celebrated its 15th Anniversary of ASEAN-China Dialogue Cooperation. China issued a special stamp as well as two miniature sheets commemorating the occasion. This is the second of that miniature sheet depicting the stamps of the flags of ASEAN member states.

Brunei in China's 15th ASEAN-China Dialogue Cooperation Miniature Sheet 2006

In 2006, China and ASEAN celebrated its 15th Anniversary of ASEAN-China Dialogue Cooperation. China issued a special stamp as well as two miniature sheets commemorating the occasion. This first miniature sheet depicts all the heritage of the ASEAN member states. It was hard to find Brunei but it is on the top row, the third stamp. I took the liberty of enlarging just that stamp:

It is the Royal Chariot that is currently on display at the Royal Regalia Museum in Bandar Seri Begawan.

Brunei in Thailand's National Children's Day 2013 Stamp

In 2013, realizing the importance of preparation for entering into ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, Thailand Post disseminated information about traditional costumes of AEC member countries through the National Children's Day 2013 Commemorative Stamp. This collection entitled "Children of ASEAN - Preparation for entering into ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015" portrayed cartoon characters wearing national costumes of the 10 member countries, including Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Quantity of stamps: 700,000 pieces per design
Sheet Composition: 5 stamps per sheet

Printing Process: Lithography, Multi-colour
Designer: Mr. Thaneth Ponchaiwong (Thailand Post Co., Ltd.)

Brunei's 5 cent retouch from 1916, 1924 and 1933

Three Brunei 5 cents retouch from 1916, 1924 and 1933. These are all valuable and very difficult to find. The 5 cent chocolate were also used for the Japanese overprints and they are quite rare.

Vietnam's ASEAN Monuments 1993

These 1993 Vietnamese stamps were issued showing the ASEAN monuments. Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar had yet to join ASEAN and there were only seven ASEAN member states then. For Brunei, the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque was chosen.

Old Modern Postcard

This looks like a modern postcard of Brunei. But looks can be deceiving. This postcard is more than 30 years old, believe it or not.

What gives this away are probably several things. One is the Royal Dais. The location of this Royal Dais is in front of the SOAS Mosque. Nowadays the Royal Dais is permanently in front of the Secretariat Building which the Mosque is now to the right of the Royal Dais.

Secondly look closely at the flags waving in front of the Royal Dais. There is a Union Jack clearly visible. Only in pre-1984 was the Union Jack, the British flag was clearly seen as Brunei at that time was still a 'protectorate' of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Finally, the uniforms. I am sure the uniforms have changed but I just don't know enough about military uniforms to describe the changes.

Additionally, which is not visible, the postcard was published by Dairy Farm, a company which no longer exist in Brunei. My best guess is that this postcard was printed about early 1980s.

Complete Sarawak BMA Stamps 1946

After the end of the Second World War, the Brunei government which was then the British Military Administration (BMA) used stamps of Sarawak and North Borneo in Brunei. The only difference between the original stamps and that of BMA was that the stamps were marked BMA in black or red. I wanted to buy a whole set of Sarawak BMA. One day I got an offer for the above set. I did not hesitate and quickly grabbed this.

Brunei's 5 cent retouch

This Brunei stamp in my collection, believe it or not, has a catalogue value of B$1,000. It is quite rare and nowadays almost difficult to find. But when it first came out no one knew it existed let alone knew it will be worth that much.

This 5 cent stamp was issued in 1916. What makes it rare is that little 5c (circled in white). When these stamps first came out, they were all printed together. However in some of the sheets that were printed, the 5c did not come out, the printer forgot to put the 5c stamp and the box was empty. Rather than throw those sheets away, the printer had to print the little 5c individually. At first no one realised. It wasn't until the 1950s, if I am not mistaken, that this little mistake came to light and everyone searched for the 5c stamp with what is now known as the '5c retouch'. The 5c retouch can also be found in some of the 5c stamps for the 1924 and 1947 series.

If you have a lot of Brunei's 5c stamps from this era, it would be worthwhile to have a look. All you have to do is look at the colour of that 5c in the top left hand corner and compare that to the other 5c in the other corners. If your stamp's 5c is lighter in colour, then it is likely that you have a '5c retouch' and you might want to keep it separate from your other much cheaper stamps.

Brunei Unissued Stamps Found Again

Many years ago I discovered there was a set of stamps which was unissued and supposedly that all the stamps have been destroyed. I was thinking whether these stamps would ever be found or whether there would be survivors.

A few years ago, when I went to my stamp dealer which I always frequent whenever I go to Singapore, he showed me a set. I nearly fainted, It cost me an arm and a leg and I finally got that set. Surprisingly a few months after that I saw another set on eBay. The prices on that jumped so high that it went beyond what I would have paid for it which was about US$1000+. After that I did not see any more of these stamps.

Yesterday, at one of the houses I visited for Chinese New Year, the owner showed me these three sets. I have only seen two sets throughout my life and was suddenly in front of me was three other sets! When he said would I like to buy it, I definitely was more than interested for the right price. I offered my price and after two tries I got them. That was probably one of the most exciting things that happened to me as a stamp collector.....

Unusual Postmark Cancellations on Brunei Stamps

If you just take a glance at these stamps from my collection, you would not have noticed anything different. Just ordinary used Brunei stamps. They are old though. The 1 cent was issued in 1908 and the 5 cent was issued in 1916.

Look closely. Look at the postmarks.

Now you can see. The 5 cent stamp was postmarked Labuan on 9 November 1922. The 1 cent was postmarked Kingstown on 6 September 1910. You all know where Labuan is. Kingstown? That's somewhere in the West Indies.

Theory? Probably the stamps when affixed to the envelope escaped from being postmarked in Brunei but when it landed in Labuan, the postmaster there affixed the cancellation so that the stamp can not be used. Similarly with the Kingstown postmark. The other interesting bit was that someone in Brunei wrote a letter to someone in Kingstown. If the stamp can talk, what interesting tales can it have.

Straits India Coin 1862

I have not been buying coins for quite a while but when I saw these set of Straits Settlement's coins came up on eBay, I could not resist the temptation to add the coins to my collection even though I already have them. This one is nothing fancy but this coin is historical as it marked the transition for the Straits Settlement to be separate from the British rule in India. Before that the Straits Settlement were governed as part of India and hence Indian coins were used. This 1862 coin marked India Straits 1862 marked the beginning of a separate rule for the Straits Settlement government.

Saudi Arabia Miniature Sheet 2012

Yesterday I blogged about special stamps produced by Saudi Arabia for the haj season and showed the 2013 sheet. Today it is the 2012 miniature sheet comprising of two stamps with the same values of 2 Riyal each.

Saudi Arabia Miniature Sheet 2013

Apparently Saudi Arabia produced special stamps for the haj year. I have only discovered the 2013 and the 2012 series. This is the 2013 series

Sumatera Pitis

 

Over the years I have managed to gather a number of yellow pitis or coins of the region. These are actually real gold coins coming from the sultanates in Sumatera between the 17th and 19th centuries. Or even older. I probably have a few dozens by the now, I haven't counted them. I haven't even had time to look what sultanates these were. I am reserving that for my retirement I guess,

Thailand National Children's Day Stamps 2013

Thailand issued the following stamp sometime last year:

Issue 996: National Children’s Day 2013 Commemorative stamps, Issues

This issue commemorates National Children’s Day 2013 (12th January) in Thailand and it is a regular issue each year. This year the stamp features flags and national costumes of the 10 ASEAN member states to raise awareness of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)...

And the Brunei stamp showing the Brunei national costumes looked like this:

Brunei Used Stamps 1907

The older stamps are worth more when they are used. For instance, these Brunei stamps issued in 1907 with various postmark dates ranging from 1907 to 1911 are worth much more with the postmarks than if they are mint.

The 1 cent is worth M$50 (mint M$10), the 2 cent is worth M$20 (mint M$10), the 4 cent is worth M$45 (mint M$38), the 10 cent is worth M$30 (mint M$22), the 25 cent is worth M$220 (M$145) and the $1 stamp is worth M$400 (mint M$220).

Brunei $5 and $25 Stamps Revenue 1910

Continuing on my blogs about the Brunei $5 and $25 stamps which I have in my collection. The Brunei $5 and $25 stamps were also used for fiscal purposes such as paying stamp duty and so on. Hence the words Postage & Revenue which are on the stamps. Revenue means stamp duties or any other payment which are required. These two stamps which I owned originally came from a document hence the word PAID stamped across the two stamps rendering these stamps 'used' and not mint. According to the same catalog produced by Steven Tan, these used stamps should be worth M$4,000 and M$1,100 respectively.

Brunei Stamp $5 and $25 1910

These two highest values among the 1910 stamps are the most sought after. I was lucky enough to find these two and overprinted 'Specimen'. I dare not speculate as to how much the values of these two stamps are because catalog values for mint is M$700 and M$2,600 respectively and for used is M$1,100 and M$4,000. With specimen overprint I just dare not put a price on them.

Great Britain 50 Pounds 2006

On Thursday, 15th January 2014, Sky News UK reported the following news:

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London, 15th January 2014 - The Bank of England is withdrawing 63 million £50 notes from circulation following a review of the note's ability to withstand fraud.

The note in question bears the portrait of the first bank governor, Sir John Houblon, who took office in 1694. [Picture above]

From April 30, only the £50 note which celebrates the 18th century business partnership of entrepreneur Matthew Boulton and engineer James Watt, who helped forge the Industrial Revolution, will hold legal tender status.

Victoria Cleland, head of notes division at the bank, said: "If you have any Houblon £50 notes, it's best to spend, deposit or exchange them before April 30."

Around 224 million £50 notes worth £11.2bn are in circulation in total.

Sample polymer five and ten GB pound banknotes are displayed at the Bank of England in London. Paper notes will start to be replaced with polymer versions from 2016

The bank said that from May onwards, retailers were unlikely to accept the Houblon notes as payment, but most banks and building societies would still allow customers to deposit them into their accounts.

Barclays, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Ulster Bank and the Post Office have agreed to exchange the older-style £50 notes for both customers and non-customers up to the value of £200 until October 30.

The Boulton and Watt note, which was brought into circulation in November 2011, was the first introduced by the bank to feature a green "motion thread" to bolster the currency's defences against counterfeiters.

It has five windows featuring the pound symbol and the number 50, which move up and down when the note is tilted from side to side.

In December, the Bank announced that it planned to issue plastic banknotes for the first time from 2016, when a new £5 note featuring Sir Winston Churchill appears.

A £10 note featuring Jane Austen will follow around a year later and also be made from polymer, rather than the cotton paper currently used, aimed at improving durability.

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Brunei's $25 stamps 1910

I bought these Brunei 1910 $25 stamps about seven or eight years ago. They cost me about $1,600 (M$4,000) then. Today, according to Steven Tan in his famous International Stamp Catalog for Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei stamps, each of the stamp is now worth M$2,600 making this set worth $4,160 or M$10,400 and more as the stamps are in a block of four. Not bad. The value has gone up two and a half times. Who says stamp collecting does not pay?

Brunei's National Flower in Thailand's Stamp Series

The Thailand Postal Authority issued for the New Year of 2013, a series of stamps featuring the national flowers of every single ASEAN member state. For Brunei, the flower chosen is our simpor which more or less became our national flower when we hosted APEC here in Brunei in 1999. I wrote about the flower in my other blog which you can read here.

This is a close up of the Thai stamp showing Brunei's simpor:

Brunei's ASEAN Summit 2013 Stamps

Brunei Darussalam hosted the 22nd and 23rd ASEAN Summit in April and October 2013. To commemorate that, the postal authorities issued special stamps and miniature sheet which was released on 9th October 2013.

The technical specification of the issue:

Name of Issue:
ASEAN Summit 2013

Date of Issue:
9 October 2013

Stamp Denomination:
$1.00 x 3 stamps

Size of Stamps:
40.7 mm x 29.85 mm

Miniature Sheet High Value:
$23

Size of Miniature Sheet:
110 mm x 90 mm

Designer:
Hajah Siti Zaleha Haji Kaprawi

Printer:
Secura Singapore Pte Ltd

Printing Process:
Offset Lithography

Paper:
110 gsm

Perforation:
13 per 2 cm

Brunei First Day Cover 1895

About six years ago, I wrote about bidding to get a Pead First Day Cover 1895 which you can read if click on the underlined words. In 1895 when Robertson issued his stamps of Brunei, the stamps were very popular and very commercialised. So either Robertson or someone close to him took advantage and issued a number of 'first day covers' and addressed them to either Parker or Mead in London, England. Both types are very expensive and very rare now. I only managed to get the Parker First Day Cover and up to now still have not come across the Pead First Day Cover until now. In the meantime I do have this Parker first day cover posted from Brunei in July 1895, transit to Labuan and received in Totenham in August 1895. This was probably among the first letters carried officially from Brunei to England in those days.

First Day Cover 1968

In 1967, stamps were prepared for the opening of the new building which will house the Broadcasting and Information Department (Jabatan Penyiaran dan Penerangan) and Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (Language and Literature Bureau) at the corner of Jalan Stoney and Jalan Elizabeth II. However the stamps were not issued in 1967 and were instead issued in 1968. By then His Royal Highness Sultan Omar Ali Saiffudien had abdicated. The stamps were issued regardless of his portrait on the stamps but the year was overprinted 1968.

All these while I had this so called 'official' first day cover:

About two months ago, a senior officer from Dewan Bahasa sent me another cover and asked me how much the value of that cover as he wanted to buy it for the department. That stumped me and suddenly I realised that it was a new cover. I went through my collection and realised that in the past different covers were made for each issuance and apparently they were all done privately. I had been checking eBay diligently for that cover for the last few weeks. Yesterday I found that I already had that alternate cover and I might as well share it here:

Envelope and Stamps from Post World War II Era

I have lost one album of stamps which contained many duplicates of my precious stamps. So I have been turning my study almost upside down in search of it. In doing so, every now and then I discovered where I have stashed some of my collection of stamps, covers and so on and frankly they surprised me. I found this envelope cover and it took me a while to realise that I bought this one years ago was simply because it was a cover from Brunei posted to someone in Manchester, England in 1946 and all the stamps were North Borneo stamps overprinted British Military Administration (BMA) and postmarked in Brunei. This is certainly an unusual cover and luckily it was already in my collection.

Sabah Stamps Used in Brunei

Sabah or rather North Borneo stamps were also used in Brunei during the British Military Administration after the end of the Second World War. Both Sarawak and North Borneo stamps were used in Brunei at that time.

45th Anniversary of Currency Interchangeability Agreement between Brunei Darussalam and Singapore 2012

These stamps were issued to commemorate the '45th Anniversary of Currency Interchangeability Agreement between Brunei Darussalam and Singapore.'

What this means is that 45 years ago, in 1967, Brunei and Singapore, who before that year had been using the same money issued by the Straits Settlement Government and later the Board of Currency Commissioners, despite issuing their own separate currencies, want to maintain the same value. So the Brunei Dollar and the Singapore Dollar are interchangeable between the two countries. You can use Brunei Dollars in Singapore and Singapore Dollars in Brunei. The agreement originally includes Malaysia but Malaysia opted out when its currency appreciated in the early 1970s. It has been 45  years in 2012 that Brunei and Singapore dollars are interchangeable at par between the two countries. This set of stamps commemorate that 45 years of interchangeability.

For this issuance, Singapore also issued two almost similar stamps.

The technical details of the stamps issue:

Name of Issue :
45th Anniversary of Currency Interchangeability Agreement between Brunei Darussalam and Singapore

Date of Issue :
27 November 2012

Stamp Denomination :
$1.00 and $2.00

Designer :
Pengiran Amir bin Pengiran Haji Sablon (Brunei) and Jimmy Jin Li Juan (Singapore)

Printer :
Secura Singapore Pte Ltd

Size of Stamp :
40.8 mm x 29.85 mm

Printing Process :
Offset Lithography

Paper :
110 gsm

Perforation :
13 per 2 cm

Sarawak Stamps in Brunei in 1945-46

After the Japanese Occupation of Brunei during the Second World War, the British Military Administration (BMA) used Sarawak and North Borneo stamps for Brunei. These are some of my Sarawak stamps overprinted Brunei used during 1945 to 1946.

Opening of Muara Ports Stamps Unissued

This remained my favourite set of Brunei stamps. I have blogged about these before and I still like to talk about these stamps every now and then. These were never released and these were said to be destroyed. A few sets apparently remained and I have only seen two sets so far throughout my life. One was this set and another was a set which appeared a few months after I bought this one on eBay. That auction went to a four digit frenzy. The watermark on these stamps is the St. Edwards's Crown.

Brunei Commonwealth Day First Day Cover 1983

This special first day cover was issued as a series using the stamps of the Commonwealth Day in 1983 for all nations belonging to the Commonwealth.

Star Trek Miniature Sheets Collection 3

Stamps and anything related to stamps are my favourite hobby. I also have another hobby. I like Star Trek. Combine the two and you get strange stamp collections like these miniature sheets from St Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada: