I Will Let Go All But This

First day covers (FDCs) gave a good foundation to strengthen my interest in stamp collecting during my early philatelic life. I still remember how difficult it was for me to collect Malaysia stamps and FDCs whenever there was a new stamp issue by Jabatan Perkhidmatan Pos (now known as Pos Malaysia). This was mainly due to the financial situation of my family when I was young. At that time if I had enough money for just a set of mint stamps or a FDC (not for both), I would just buy a FDC without giving a second thought. However, my passion on FDCs has faded now.... it has died naturally and slowly at the bottom of my heart...... I would let go all my FDCs in my collection, I would not have a heart feeling for them.... but, there is one FDC in my keeping that I shall keep until I die. It is the 1957 Merdeka FDC (see picture below).... this FDC was given to me by my father 20 years ago. This FDC is very special because my father made this FDC himself at the Sg Siput Post Office on August 31, 1957. My father is not a stamp collector, and he made this FDC because it was a special day for Malaysia. He sent this FDC to his home town in Tanah Hitam from Sg Siput Post Office. My father was a primary school teacher for a school in Sg Siput (the school now has over 100 years of history), and at the time his salary was just RM150 per month! Of course, at the time he had not yet met my mother... so RM150 was not too bad for himself...