Tresnawati Prihadi: Stamp spokesperson

Apriadi Gunawan , The Jakarta Post , Singapore | Sun, 05/25/2008 12:01 PM | Discover

The Singapore Philatelic Museum saw a large group of Indonesian visitors come through its doors one morning in early May. The 20 visitors were welcomed by Tresnawati Prihadi, the museum's general manager and an Indonesian national.

Tresnawati was delighted to greet the visitors from the Sumatran provinces of Padang, Batam, Riau, Medan and Aceh. With her outgoing personality, she answered all questions from the group about the stamp museum.

For over two hours, she guided the group through the display rooms on all three floors of the museum, each containing a wide variety of stamps and postcards decadessome even centuriesold.

Tresnawati, who has just completed a business degree in the UK, is so knowledgeable about the museum and its collection that she has virtually become its spokesperson.

She said the museum held millions of stamps and 500 postcards from all over the world, including Indonesia, and that the collection was complete when the museum was established in 1995.

The Singapore Philatelic Museum may be relatively new, but the building in which it is housed is not.

"This building is over 100 years old. Formerly, it was a school called the Anglo-Chinese School of Singapore," Tresnawati told The Jakarta Post when it visited the museum on May 6.

Owing to its proximity and easy access to the city center, the museum receives visitors almost every day, particularly those from Singapore. Museum visitors each pay an entrance fee of a mere S$5 (US$3.70) for a chance to enjoy its entire treasure trove of stamps and postcards from bygone days.

The museum collection is preserved in well-maintained, educational displays. One vintage stamp bearing an image of the UK's Queen Elizabeth is displayed in an enlarged 30X40-centimeter form, complete with an animated narration of its history.

Visitors can also take a look at other historical objects related to the postal service, like mailboxes and mailman's uniforms. The museum also presents interesting facts about the postal service. For example, it took 117 days to make postal deliveries from Singapore to England by sea and land; by today's airmail service it is only a matter of three days.

According to Tresnawati, the philatelic museum sees at least 246 Singaporean visitors in a day.

"Museum visitors average about 90,000 a year, with Singaporeans exceeding the number of foreign visitors," she said, noting that local visitors were particularly attracted to postage stamps from other countries.

"We also sell stamps and postcards (in the gift shop), generally latest releases and not museum pieces," added Tresnawati. The profit generated from sales is spent on daily operational costs.

Tresnawati has worked at the Singapore Philatelic Museum for five years, and said that as an Indonesian national, she was very happy to be managing the museum.

"I'm very glad to be here. Indonesian visitors keep my spirits up," she said.

Asked whether she might return to Indonesia at some point, Tresnawati replied that she enjoyed working and living in Singapore for the moment.

"I've been living in Singapore with my family for 25 years," she said, adding that she and her family still felt they were Indonesian, despite their long absence from home.

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