I supposed there are plentiful of stamp collectors around to collect all kinds of philatelic materials (stamps, covers, first day covers, postal cards, postal orders etc.). Some collectors collect everything (covers/stamps and what-so-ever from any what-so-ever countries) under the sun, some make their scope of collecting smaller, and some even go to highly specific niches/areas. So, which category or categories are you in?
It is fun to collect, and to look at your collection for pleasure and enjoyment. When a collector changes from a general collector to a specific collector, his scope of collecting would become smaller and more specific, and at the same time the involvement of study/reseach on area/scope of collecting would intensify. This is the joyful moment in collecting as one feels more "knowledgable" on the scope/area of his collection (he has professed on stamp collecting..... hehehehehe). Of course, one needs enough materials (or to be more precise the accessibility and availability of materials) for his collection to study and research. Accessibility and availability is the key here for specific collecting. For many specific collectors, therefore, collecting the stamps from the country where the collectors residing would be the choice. Well, there are also some specific collectors residing in a country different from the countries he collects. Most of these specific collectors would have to put in extra effort to obtain specific materials for collection and study.
What I just implied above is mainly for country collectors. Thematic collecting may have different prespectives though. Well, I will grumble on thematic collecting some other time.
For stamp collectors in Malaysia, we are generally blessed with nice issues of stamps, and the number of issue per year is around 15 - I think this is reasonable. Apart from that, the denomination or the price per issue of stamps is relatively low. Collectors of modern/recent Malaysia stamps should be happy in pursuing their collecting. Malaysia modern/recent stamps (particularly the stamps issued for the past 20 years) are full of varieties - watermark, perforation and gum. This creates a nich for serious and specific collecting. Well, those residing in Malaysia would have the advantage to hunt and search for these varieties from post offices at face value. The fun part in collecting Malaysia stamp varieties in Malaysia for those new issues is that you do not know what varieties (perforation, watermark and gum) will come out in the new issues, and you do not know which varieties are less common! One has to survey a good number of copies from different post offices to have an idea which ones are less common.
Well, this is only about varieties on perforation, watermark and gum. Some really serious collectors even have gone into the format of stamp sheets. The recent commemorative stamps of Malaysia are normally printed in format of sheet-of-20. There are a good number of collectors to collect stamp sheet (they look beautiful on display). The format of perforation on sheet margins may be different for some issues, and some perforation combination may also be different on different stamp sheets, and all these render a good excuse for serious collectors to collect them.
The story has not stopped yet. The recent definitive stamps of Malaysia are printed in sheet-of-100 with imprint of plate number or serial number. The badge of reprints on these definitive stamps could be traced/indicated by a specific system of plate number and serial number. So, collecting plate and serial numbers is real fun but very challenging!
Having said that, I don't see why those (collect modern/recent stamps) residing in Malaysia do not focus on Malaysia modern/recent stamps. Malaysia modern/recent stamps are waiting for you to be explored!
Collecting stamps is fun. Searching specific stamps is fun. Successfully acquiring a variety is fun. In order to acheive the highest level of pleasure in stamp collecting, one has to study and do research on the scope/area of collecting. However, the varieties and other aspects of the modern/recent stamps of Malaysia need a lot of research and study. This information from the study and research needs to be recorded and shared. Then, this comes to another aspect of stamp collecting - writing up. It would definitely be fun to share your knowledge/findings in a write-up published in philatelic journals/periodicals. Are you ready for this? Some may take part in displaying collection in stamp exhibitions. Some may resort to stamp blogging/interneting. All these actually have one same purpose - sharing. Honestly, I find that a good philatelic research write-up on journal/periodical is more meaningful, as the good article would be referred for many years to come.
