Preserving memories of President Ton Duc Thang through stamps

Mr. Trinh Van Thu's stamp book. Photo: MY HANH

In An Giang province in general and Thoai Son commune in particular, when it comes to stamp collectors, everyone knows clearly about Mr. Tran Huu Hue - a stamp collector and Mr. Trinh Van Thu - Head of the Stamp Club of Nui Sap Secondary School. In the first years of working at the unit, Mr. Thu asked Mr. Hue why An Giang people did not collect stamps about Uncle Ton. A person known as the "Western stamp king" like Mr. Hue also shook his head, because this topic is very rare. In fact, there are only 2 stamps about President Ton Duc Thang, issued for many years without any change.

Since 2017, Mr. Thu has started collecting stamps related to Uncle Ton. Currently, he has made a stamp book with 5 frames, each frame has 16 pages arranging the stamps according to the time events. “The collection is special in that it gathers stamps according to Uncle Ton's annual exhibition events. For example, the Stamp Association of An Giang province was established more than 20 years ago, except for the 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, every year I have an envelope or stamp of that exhibition. Or even the stamp exhibition event celebrating President Ton Duc Thang's birthday every year, the stamps on the stamps are very important,” Mr. Thu shared.

The topic of Uncle Ton is one of the rare topics, very few people make a full collection but mainly make topics according to events related to Uncle. Every year, Mr. Thu arranges pages according to specific events. The stamp book is divided into frames by him such as: The life and career of President Ton Duc Thang, related events... In total, up to now, the number of stamps has filled 3 frames, has 48 pages and is continuing to be updated. In particular, 1 stamp page shows Uncle Ton's personality, his hometown, including real postcards sent; the front cover holds very rare stamps that he has searched for.

Stamp collectors believe that anyone can buy stamps about Uncle Ton, but each stamp associated with a certain event is very difficult to find. Many people are even more surprised to know that in the An Giang Province Stamp Association, no one has made a stamp book like Mr. Thu. In addition to collecting stamps on invitations, he also finds stamps from prints of the Ton Duc Thang Museum, exchanges stamp envelopes ordered from afar, and sometimes can't sleep waiting eagerly. He is determined to make all 5 frames in the book. If all goes well, he plans to reach the target of 30 printings by 2030 (except for 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic).

As a veteran philatelist of the province, Mr. Trinh Van Thu always chooses a special way of playing, not only creating a personal style but also creating collections with practical meaning. In particular, he includes stamp club activities in the school he founded, helping students to consult, learn, and broaden their vision on how to play and collect stamps.

Every year, to celebrate the birthday of President Ton Duc Thang (August 20), the stamp club has activities on this topic. The artists ask questions about Uncle Ton's background, the reward for the children is 10 stamps, in which there is 1 stamp about Uncle. This activity makes the children very excited, maintaining the playground for many years.

While playing and meaningfully conveying his passion to students, Mr. Thu also continues to promote the stamp collecting movement in the province. He hopes that his work will spread and positively educate children and those who have a special passion for stamp collecting.

MY HANH

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/luu-giu-ky-uc-ve-chu-tich-ton-duc-thang-qua-tem-a426704.html