Hongkong Post issues special stamps in bid to rekindle interest in old-fashioned letter-writing

Four special edition stamps will go on sale on Friday to mark “World Post Day,” as the Post Office hopes to help rekindle affection for old-fashioned letter-writing in the age of the internet.

The fresh designs featuring brightly-coloured pigeons shaped like hands are being launched on the anniversary of the Universal Postal Union, a boon for Hong Kong’s 50,000 registered stamp collectors.

“We want to promote the fun of sending letters,” said Nelson Lee, a senior manager of marketing in Hongkong Post’s philatelic department. “Nowadays it is much more popular to send emails to friends instead of letters, but we still think that writing a letter is a more heartwarming action,” he added.

The number of stamp collectors in Hong Kong is increasing in spite of the decline in the popularity of sending tangible missives to friends and relatives, according to Nelson Lee.

Hoping to remind locals of the joys of sending and receiving real letters, Hongkong Post is offering free postage on Friday to anyone sending letters to friends within the SAR.