myStampJourney

Coming from a biomedical background, this is one of my favourite first day covers ever issued by Pos Malaysia. It was issued to commemorate 100 years of the Institute for Medical Research (IMR) featuring three noble achievements.  Miniature sheet, face value at RM2, depict the double helical structure of the DNA 30sen, depicting the filarial parasite, Brugia malayi , and rice with the label 'beri-beri'. It was very meaningful that these two elements were mentioned on the 30sen stamp because the founding of the institute revolved around the need to carry out scientific research on tropical diseases and other infectious diseases that were prominent in Malaya. Here, the IMR achieved a significant breakthrough in filariasis research by establishing an in vitro culture system for the infective stage of B. malayi , as well as B. pahangi. Studies on nutritional status in rural areas, specifically on beriberi were also conducted.  Brugia malayi and filariasis  In the early years of th

Acquired not long ago, I initially thought the only postal marking seen was the octagon obliterator. It is a wild guess but based on the shape of the second digit, it is a strong '7'.  B172 (1874-1879) was used in Singapore. Interestingly. the same number, B172 was also used in Penang (1874-1884), and in Malacca (1874-1892). However, in this case, I am sure it is a B172 Upon closer inspection, there was a faint oval double ring in violet.  As indicated by the arrows, the position of a fainter oval cancel in violet Processing the image to enhance oval cancel, it revealed something more interesting. The double ring marking is revealed. Stamp is upright. Stamp is now upside down. The words are making more sense now.  What we can extract based on this is ' CHARTERED MERCA ', which in full, I strongly believe is: CHARTERED MERCANTILE BANK OF INDIA, LONDON & CHINA Now, what makes this more interesting are two points; firstly, period of usage since B172 are used in both Pe