Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have an interesting story of foreign powers trying to influence post colonial Asia for good, they hope.
The stamp today was issued by an independent Ceylon. In 1970, they were still using the British colonial name. Today the island is known as Sri Lanka. The stamp recognizes Asia Productivity Year 1970. Similar stamps were issued by India, Pakistan, Taiwan, and the still colony of Hong Kong. There are some pretty diverse politics and ethnicities involved so to get them to agree is in itself an achievement.
The stamp is issue A146, a 60 cent stamp issued by Ceylon on June 17th, 1970. It was a single stamp issue and shows symbols of agriculture and industry along with the white circle with the upward arrow that was the symbol of the Asian Productivity Organization. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 30 cents used.
Ceylon had colonial periods with the Portuguese, the Dutch, and then the British. The interactions changed the island in ways that are still being dealt with today. The Portuguese, through Saint Francis Xavier, tried to convert the local population to Catholism, to the annoyance of local leaders. This lead to a deal with the Dutch to remove the Portuguese in exchange for Dutch trading posts. This lead to a class of Burghers, that were Dutch and mixed Dutch and played an important role in the commerce of the island. Lastly it was the British, who brought with them a large group of Indians to work on tea plantations. These numbers were so great that they were the majority in some rural areas. The Indians spoke a different language and were of a different religion. All this outside interference, done I believe unthinkingly rather than out of hostile intent left the newly independent locals with a difficult country to govern. I count three languages and also three alphabets on this stamp.
The Buddhist majority government tried to favor their language around the time of this stamp. This angered the Burghers and many of them fled the country, doing much to disrupt the economy. Many of those of Indian descent rebelled and a hot and cold civil war went on for many years. Eventually the majority Indian areas received some autonomy and the Indian army sent peace keepers to allow the area to feel secure.
The Asian Productivity Organization also has an interesting history. Formed by Japan with the help of USA foreign aid and the philanthropic Ford Foundation, it sought to help along economic, education, and eventually ecologic progress in Asia. It seems to offer an alternative to communism and to allow Japan to again take a wider, peaceful role in Asian affairs. The presence of Taiwan keeps mainland China out even as former communist countries have entered. This may be just as well as having China would perhaps mean throwing out Taiwan and ceding to China control. The organization still exists.
Well, my drink is empty and so it is time to open up the discussion in the below comment section. Getting vastly different countries to issue similar stamps seems a worthwhile token, similar to Olympic stamps. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.