Ongzi's Stamps: Antarctic

Thursday, 8 March 2012

Malaysia 2012 Antarctic Research Program

Pos Malaysia issued a special stamp collection on ‘Malaysian Antarctica Research Programme (MARP)' that was produced in collaboration with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) in conjunction with the working visit of the 13^th Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin Ibni Almarhum Sultan Mahmud Al-Muktafi Billah Shah from 20^th to 23^rd November 2011 to Antarctica.

MARP is the result of the Government’s decision in November 1997 to encourage Malaysian scientists to undertake Antarctic research in Scott Base, Antarctica. The first Malaysian scientific expedition to Antarctica was successfully held in October 1999. The group conducted a research on organic pollutants around Scott Base. This expedition was a monumental achievement in Malaysia’s involvement in Antarctic research.

The working visit of the 13^th Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin Ibni Almarhum Sultan Mahmud Al-Muktafi Billah Shah, marked the royal recognition on the efforts and important contribution of research carried out by Malaysian scientists in Antarctica and commemorated Malaysia’s accession to the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) (1959) on 31 October 2011.

60sen

The 60sen stamp features the aerial view of the Antarctic continent. The Malaysian flag signifies that Malaysia is now party to the ATS in preserving Antarctica for peace and science. The background is a scenic view of the midnight sun near Ross Island Antarctica.

90sen se-tenant

The 90sen se-tenant stamps feature an aerial view of the world which highlights the ice caps of the Arctic and Antarctic and Malaysia as the only ASEAN and Muslim country with an active polar research program.

The se-tenant pair portrays the Emperor penguin ( Aptenodytes forsteri ), which is the biggest of all living penguin species and a flock of Adelie penguins in the background of the “white desert”. The scientist portrayed is a MARP atmospheric scientist setting up a Global Positioning System (GPS) to study interactions between the upper atmosphere and space weather. The microscopic photograph is a yeast endemic to Antarctica isolated from the sea ice by MARP microbiologists who are studying cold adaptation mechanism of Antarctic microbes.