341. Kenya Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Independence With A Set Of 100 Stamps.

  Posta Kenya has released a set of 100 different stamps to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the country's independence. The 100 stamps are said to "capture different milestones in Kenya's journey and highlight epochal events in the country's history as well as its heroes and the eminent personalities who have shaped its politics, arts, culture and social life".

  A government spokesman said that the stamps depict different aspects of Kenya's liberation struggle and other key historical interest to philatelists. "There is a story behind every postage stamp. Each of the iconic images on all those little bits of paper captures a unique angle of the Kenyan history. They play a significant role in honouring national heroes and showcasing important feature of our culture and history".

  I have not yet seen a detailed picture of the issue but it appears to take the same format as the 100 insects stamps which were issued in 2011 - that is - 4 sheetlets each of 25 different stamps. I do not yet know the precise date of issue.

 Kenya also released an issue on 6 December 2013 which appears to have been provided by the government of The Chinese People's Republic to commemorate the 50th anniversary of China-Kenya diplomatic relations. I have not yet seen details of the issue.

  The final issues of the year from Hong Kong, China include a set of 6 stamps which depicts local bus services. This set was issued on 24 September 2013 and was accompanied by 2 miniature sheets and a $HK50 prestige booklet. The stamps were designed by Ken Wong and Leung Kam-hung and printed in lithography by Cartor.

  A set of 4 stamps was issued on 15 October 2013 on the subject of "Inclusive Arts". The stamps were designed by John Au and lithographed by Enschede.

  A set of 6 stamps was issued on 19 November 2013 on the subject of Innovation and Technology. The stamps were designed by Arde Lam and lithographed by Cartor. A miniature sheet which included all 6 stamps was also issued:-

  Four stamps and 1 miniature sheet were issued on 5 December 2013 to commemorate the Hong Kong Legislative Council. The issue was designed by Shirman Lai and lithographed by Cartor:-

  As always the designs and printing of these stamps are excellent which is why I have continued to enjoy collecting the stamps of Hong Kong even though the territory ceased to qualify to be included in a collection of Commonwealth stamps back in 1997. You just don't have to do what the catalogue tells you to do.

340. Prince George In Wonderland.

    Jamaica has issued an attractive set of 4 stamps as its Christmas issue. I do not yet know the date of issue because publicity produced by its philatelic Agents, CASCO, has not yet appeared anywhere accessible for the ordinary collector. How can you expect to sell something if potential customers do not know that it exists?

  Vanuatu issued 4 Christmas stamps on 6 November 2013. The stamp designs take the pleasing form of cartoon depictions of Father Christmas visiting Vanuatu and were designed by Lucas Kukler and printed in lithography by Southern Colour Print:-

  On 11 December 2013 Vanuatu also issued a single stamp miniature sheet to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Vanuatu's unique Underwater Post Office. The item was designed by Denise Durkin and lithographed by Southern Colour Print-

  Undoubtedly one of the most bizarre issues to have appeared to commemorate the birth of Prince George Of Cambridge is that which was issued by Turks And Caicos Islands on 1 October 2013. The little prince himself appears in a tiny vignette in the border of the sheetlet of 3 different $1 stamps and similarly in the lower left part of the border of the single value miniature sheet.The designs of the stamps themselves are given over to depicting characters from Alice In Wonderland which seems rather unfortunate to me for as far as I can remember there is only one baby who appears as a character in that particular book - that belonging to the Duchess - and the baby in question turns into a piglet which we hope will not be the fate of Prince George. Honestly, in the rush to be the first to cash in on topical events does anyone ever really think about exactly what they are depicting on some of these new issues? Whoever came up with the idea for this set really ought to be banned from being allowed to be involved in stamp production ever again:-

Missed design opportunity - the baby who turned into a piglet!

  Pitcairn issued 6 stamps on 18 December 2013 which depict the ship landing point at Bounty Bay on Pitcairn. The stamps were designed by Denise Durkin and lithographed by Southern Colour Print:-

  Returning to the subject of The Year of The Horse, Singapore will issue 3 stamps and 1 Collectors' Sheet on 3 January 2014 to commemorate the lunar new year. The issue was designed by Leo Teck  Chang and the stamps were lithographed by Southern Colour Print while the sheet was lithographed by Cartor:-

  I have previously mentioned the 5 stamps issued by Malawi on 12 July 2013 which depict local dancing. However there is also an accompanying miniature sheet which I depict below:-

339. Guernsey Joins Desperate Scramble For Far Eastern Sales.

  On 6 January 2014, the tiny Channel island of Guernsey will issue a set of 6 stamps and 1 miniature sheet to commemorate the lunar new year which will be The Year Of The Horse. It is difficult to understand what the relevance of the subject matter is to this small Western European territory and it only seems possible to think that sales of stamps to its traditional customer base in Europe and North America must have fallen so greatly that the territory's postal administration feels it necessary to try to boost its sales by identifying with Far Eastern themes to appeal to the philatelic market in that part of the world.

  This is where I part company with my Guernsey stamp collection. From this issue, which I shall not buy, onwards I shall only buy stamps which have the strictest local relevance to the island (this also applies to its philatelic appendage Alderney) and I shall merely make little footnotes in my collection about what I choose not to collect. I fear that even if the Guernsey Philatelic Bureau does succeed in increasing sales in the Far East, large sets and added miniature sheets as shown above and below can only cause it to lose more of its traditional customers. 

  For the record, this issue was designed by Chrissy Lau and printed in lithography by Lowe Martin:-

  I have previously mentioned that from 2014 because of continuing excessive stamp issues I shall treat new issues from Jersey similarly and only buy stamps from that territory which have a strictly locally relevant subject matter. The first issue of 2014 certainly does have local relevance so it will be finding its way into my collection. On 7 January 2014 Jersey will issue 6 stamps, designed by Nick Shewring, on the subject of local architecture and depicting local manor houses.

  Meanwhile New Zealand Post will also present collectors with a set of 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet on 8 January 2013 to mark the Year Of The Horse. The issue was designed by Asiaworks and lithographed by Cartor:-

  On 9 October 2013 Brunei Darussalam issued a set of 3 stamps and 1 expensive miniature sheet (face value of $23) to commemorate the holding of the ASEAN Summit in Brunei. As depicted below, the 3 $1 stamps were printed se-tenant in sheetlets of 15 stamps (5 strips of 3 different designs). A booklet containing a set of stamps was also issued. 

  Brunei also issued a second set of 3 stamps and 1 miniature sheet in its Butterfly series on 28 February 2013.

338. India Commemorates Tendulkar's 200th Test Match.

  India issued 2 stamps and a miniature sheet on 14 November 2013 to commemorate the 200th Test Match appearance of the Indian cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar, in a game against The West Indies at Mumbai after which he retired from playing cricket. In all he played in 664 international cricket matches and scored a total of 34357 runs. During the course of his career he received many notable awards and was viewed as the greatest batsman of his generation.

  Other recent issues from India are:-

  12 October 2013 - Philately Day - 1 miniature sheet -

  14 November 2013 - Children's Day - 1 stamp - 

  23 November 2013 - Commemoration of Satya Sai Baba - 1 stamp -

23 November 2013 - The Intelligence Bureau - 1 stamp - 

  26 November 2013 - Railway Workshops at Kanchapara and Jamalpur - 2 stamps and 1 miniature sheet - 

    13 November 2013 - The Times Of India newspaper - 1 stamp -

  Date of issue not yet known - State Visit of The Emperor Of Japan - 1 miniature sheet - 

  Date of issue not yet known - 50th anniversary of the establishment of Nagaland - 1 stamp -

   I experienced some concern when recently looking at the New Zealand Post philatelic website and noticed that it is no longer offering any recent Post Fiji stamps for sale. Whether this is related to the noticeable recent slow down in new stamp issues by Fiji or whether it reflects Fiji taking on a new philatelic agency to manage its philatelic affairs is not known to me at present. Given the number of Pacific territories that have recently signed contracts with foreign agencies which have rather prolific new stamp outputs I am a little fearful that Fiji has gone the way of some of the other small Pacific island states in exchanging national philatelic pride for a royalties fee and a supply of free stamps. I do hope not. Fiji has retained an excellent philatelic record over the years and it would be disastrous if it is sacrificing national reputation for a quick financial boost. Perhaps I'm putting too much significance on the current New Zealand Post website but after what has happened elsewhere one cannot help but fear the worst.

   I only know of 2 stamp issues from Fiji so far in 2013 (both previously illustrated but dates of issue now given):-

  21 January 2013 - Fiji's 2012 Paralympics Gold Medal winner - 4 stamps;

  28 August 2013 - Birth of Prince George Of Cambridge - 4 stamps.

  Meanwhile, other Commonwealth new issues include:-

  Bangladesh - 16 September 2013 - International Ozone Day - 1 stamp -

  Canada -

  30 September 2013 - Canada Post Community Foundation -

  22 October 2013 - Christmas - 4 self-adhesive stamps from booklets and 1 miniature sheet -

  18 October 2013 - 150th anniversary of The Hastings And Prince Edward Regiment - 1 self-adhesive stamp from a booklet - 

  Bermuda - date not yet known - "Mystery Roses" - 4 values -

  Ireland - 17 October 2013 - Contemporary Public Buildings - 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet -

  7 November 2013 - Christmas - 1 self-adhesive stamp from a booklet - 

  Sri Lanka - 

  29 August 2013 - Commemoration of Fr Tissa Balasuriya -1 stamp;

  1 October 2013 - World Children's Day - se-tenant strip of 3 stamps;

  9 October 2013 - World Post Day - 1 stamp;

  27 October 2013 - Inauguration of the Colombo - Katunayaka Expressway - 1 stamp;

  30 October 2013 - Commemoration of Deshabandu Alec Robertson (writer) - 1 stamp;

  1 November 2013 - Commemoration of Dr. Premasiri Khamadasa (music composer).- 1 stamp;

  8 November 2013 - Centenary of the Sri Lanka Excise Department - 1 stamp;

  14 November 2013 CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting), held in Sri Lanka - 2 stamps and 1 miniature sheet;

  27 November 2013 - Commemoration of Dr. Tissa Abaysekara (film maker) - 1 stamp;

  1 December 2013 - 25th anniversary of the Institute of Automotive Engineers - 1 stamp;

  1 December 2013 - Christmas - 2 stamps and 1 miniature sheet;

  2 December 2013 - All Ceylon Moors Association - 1 stamp.

  Pakistan - 

  28 November 2013 - 20th anniversary of ECO (Economic Co-operation Organisation) 1 stamp -