The bicycle was commonly used by postal services in European countries and Indonesia, so it's known as a postal bicycle. The population of these bicycles in Indonesia was less than 100, so at one time many people were hunting them. This was actually a side visit, when accompanying Olyvia Bendon to see the Christie Damayanti exhibition which took place on the terrace of the Indonesian Stamp Museum.
Because the door was open, we entered to peek at the museum collection that was initiated by Mrs. Tien Soeharto. In the museum courtyard there's a globe monument on which there's a statue of a dove carrying a letter, symbolizing the work of Pos Indonesia, which serves the delivery of news throughout the world.
Even though the use of postage stamps has practically been replaced by SMS, email, Whatsapp and social media, until several years ago PT Pos Indonesia still printed three million stamps every year. It's collectors and philately enthusiasts who still buy and use stamps to exchange collections with their friends at home and abroad.
The candi bentar entrance gate of Stamp Museum can be seen at the far end there. The photo was taken from the center of the museum's hall which was open on all four sides. Candi Bentar is a gate which upper parts are not connecetd, if they are connected it's called a paduraksa gate. The entrance to the Indonesian Stamp Museum room is decorated with vines motif, and right between the museum doors was a Hanoman statue. Hanoman is the monkey king who becomes Rama's ambassador to send news to Shinta, who's being held by Rahwana in the Kingdom of Alengka.
Above the Hanoman statue there's the Pos Indonesia logo, and on the right was an old letter bus from the postal service in the colonial era which information was still in Dutch, Brievenbus. In 1906 the postal service in the Dutch East Indies changed to Posts Telegraafend Telefoon Dienst or Telegraph and Telephone Postal Service (PTT), and in 1923 its head office was moved to Bandung City under the Public Works Service (Burgerlijke Openbare Werker). During the Japanese occupation era, the PTT Bureau was taken over by the Japanese army.
When we entered the main hall of the Indonesian Stamp Museum, we were greeted by a large stamp with a picture of Mrs. Tien Soeharto, with a nominal value of 700. The Indonesian Stamp Museum room is circular in shape, with Presentation Blocks from I - VI presenting dioramas, postal equipments, and panels containing stamp collections. The diorama at Presentation Block V of the Indonesian Stamp Museum exhibits a collection of stamps arranged based on themes, such as culture, tourism, flora, fauna, environment, and humanity.
There's an interesting installation in the Presentation Block I of the TMII Indonesian Stamp Museum which contained the History of Stamps, including how news deliveries were carried out in ancient times using palm leaves. The lontar leaves were cooked before use, and for writing were used by pengutik. Examples of palms and pengutik were shown in this section.
At the TMII Indonesian Stamp Museum there were examples of postal stamps from the VOC, Daendels, Raffles (in English), and Dutch East Indies era. Then there were miniature of Pedati Pos, Pos Horse, Postal Carriage, Pacalang sailboat, and VOC Ship. On it is a photo of Sir Rowland Hill (born 1795), the Father of World Stamps, who came up with the idea of using postage as a sign of paying off mailing fees.
There's also a replica of Penny Black, the world's first postage stamp published in 1840, a photo of the Batavia Post Office founded by GW Baron van Imhoff on August 26, 1746, the first Dutch East Indies stamp published April 1, 1864 with a picture of King Willem III designed by JW Kaiser from Amsterdam and printed by Mint in Utrecht, Netherlands.
In Presentation Block II of the Indonesian Stamp Museum were shown the processes of making stamps, a statue of the stamp designer, complete with equipments. There were also stamp printing cylinders, stamp printing plates during the revolution, positive films, photos of the process of making stamps, and examples of postage stamps during the republican era that have been published. The Presentation Block III of the TMII Indonesian Stamp Museum contains a series of stamps from the war of independence that were printed in Vienna and published in 1948.
Among them were the stamps of the Map of Indonesia, Soldiers and Lake Toba, the Armed Forces and General Sudirman, Ngarai Sianok, Sutan Syahrir and Thomas Jefferson, and many more. The price was from 1 cent to 80 cents. There were Yogyakarta printed stamps which were published on July 1, 1947, commemorative stamps of the return of the Indonesian government in Yogyakarta which were published on July 20, 1949, a series commemorating the failure of the Dutch blockade, and a series of penetrating the Dutch blockade for airmail. In the middle of the block, there's a painting of the flag drop incident at the Majapahit Hotel, Surabaya.
Meanwhile, Presentation Block VI exhibited stamps based on themes, such as sports and scouting, and philately-related panels which could be a long-term investment with astonishing results. One of the most expensive stamps in the world, for example, is the first Dutch East Indies stamp in 1864, with the stamp "Ngawi, East Java" with a nominal value of 10 cents, which was said to be valued at up to Rp20 billion.
The Indonesian Stamp Museum seems to be a kind of nostalgic place for generations who were not familiar with sms, e-mail, and social media in their youth. Stamps should not die, because they can become inscriptions telling the public decades later, about many things that cannot be done by e-mail, sms, and similar modern communications.
History records that on September 27, 1945 there was a unilateral takeover of the PTT Bureau Headquarters in Bandung by the PTT Youth Force (AMPTT) from the Japanese army, and announced the establishment of the PTT Bureau of the Republic of Indonesia. That date was later commemorated as PTT Service Day or Parpostel Service Day. The story could be read at the Indonesian Postal Museum.
The address of the Indonesian Stamp Museum is in the complex of Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, Jl. Raya Taman Mini, Jakarta Timur. Phone 021-8409286, 70732144, 8409287. Fax 021-8401310. GPS Location : -6.303758, 106.901755, Waze. Open : Monday to Friday 08.00 - 16.00, Saturday - Sunday 08.00 - 17.00. Ticket : Rp2,000.
Label: East Jakarta, Jakarta, Museum, TMII
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