"If it please God to permit me to give stamp to this country which shall last
after I am no more, I shall have lived a life which Emperors might envy.”
– Sir James Brooke, K.C.B. First
Rajah in 1868 at his home, Burrator in Devonshire -
Excerpt from Sarawak Postal History
1858 – 1956 by J.C.B. Fisher
The words written by the First Rajah
had their tragic sequel as very unfortunately Sir James Brooke did not live to
see his stamp in use.
Sir James Brooke died in the year 1868. A year after his death, in 1969, Sarawak issued its first stamp. All issues, until WWII, portray
the ruling member of the Brooke dynasty.
In WWII, during the occupation by
Japan, the Japanese administration overprints available stamps from Brunei,
North Borneo and Sarawak in Japanese. The overprints would read ‘Imperial
Japanese Government’, ‘Imperial Japanese Post North Borneo’ or just ‘North
Borneo’. The overprints exist in several varieties and in different colors as
the overprint was applied both by the central authorities and by local post
offices. Two sets of Japanese design have been issued in 1943. Both overprints
and definitives were valid throughout the administrative area of North Borneo
including Sarawak.
After WWII, the British issue stamps
of North Borneo and Sarawak overprinted ‘BMA'. These overprints were also valid
for use throughout all the British possessions in northern Borneo. In 1946, a
set is issued to commemorate 100 years of rule by the Brooke family – ironic
since the family would be deposed the same year.
From 1947 until 1963, the colony of
Sarawak issues stamps. The first issue is an overprint on previous issues, the
overprint being an emblem with a crown and ‘GR'. Subsequent issues are of the
standard design issued in many British colonies.
The stamps of the colony of Sarawak
are superseded, from 1963, by the federal issues of Malaysia, used concurrently
with the state issues of Sarawak.
Japanese Occupation
1942 Sarawak stamps overprinted in
Japanese 府政国帝本日大
British Military Administration
1945 BMA
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