Pos Malaysia announced that they are launching a set of special edition stamps to pay tribute to Malaysian frontliners. The special edition stamps were designed by Red Hong Yi—the Malaysian artist responsible for creating a powerful TIME magazine cover about climate change, as well as creating NFTs that spoofs banknotes from central banks of six different countries.
The special edition set comprises of four stamps with the theme “Barisan Hadapan COVID-19”, featuring frontliners from the Ministry of Health (MOH). Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) and Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM). As for the style, it is “exclusively designed in the form of sketches”.
“From our incredible healthcare workers who have worked around the clock to provide care and support, to the security forces who have manned the many checkpoints across the country, Malaysian frontliners have once again shown just how essential they are, and we couldn’t be more proud of them,” wrote Pos Malaysia in their press release.
The complete set can be bought for RM36.50, and each stamp is RM1.50 each. The stamps themselves will also show COVID-19 designs, made using a special printing technique using red invisible ink, which you can see under UV light.
Besides the four stamps, the collection includes 20,000 copies of First Day Covers (FDC)—which are available at 50 sen each. Customers are able to get both the FDC and the stamps for RM6.50. You can also get one of the 1,800 folders for RM6 a piece and a stamp sheet, which has 16 stamps, is obtainable at RM24 per piece.
Red Hong Yi, who designed the stamp collection, is described as “the artist who paints without a paintbrush”. She is also the artist who’s known for creating the artwork for the cover of Time magazine in the April 2021. Red has also recently been creating NFTs, and has sold her first NFT in July for more than RM325,000. The particular piece was based off the Chinese Yuan, featuring the popular Doge meme.
The frontliners stamp edition will be available for purchase from 9 September 2021 on Pos Malaysia’s e-commerce website. They will also be available at 13 General Post offices and selected post offices nationwide.
