PETALING JAYA: The arrival of the two giant pandas from China has made Pos Malaysia do what it does best – release exclusive, one-of-a-kind stamps of the two endangered animals.
“This is the first time Pos Malaysia will release stamps featuring the two rare animals,” said Pos Malaysia group head of corporate communications and customer care Datuk Rohaiza Hashim yesterday.
The limited edition and first-day cover of the pandas’ arrival in Malaysia are expected to be released later this year.
Asked how many batches of the stamps would be issued, Rohaiza said details would be determined at another date.
“The set of stamps will be part of Pos Malaysia’s collection to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Malaysia-China diplomatic relationship and will be released at the end of this month,” said Rohaiza.
The two iconic giant pandas are expected to arrive tomorrow.
The pair will arrive early in the morning via MASkargo to take advantage of the cool air during their transfer.
However, the public will not be able to visit them as they must first be quarantined for a month.
The pandas will make their public debut as soon as Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak opens their enclosure at Zoo Negara at the end of June.
China’s ambassador to Malaysia Huang Huikang confirmed last week that the pandas would arrive before Najib’s visit to China, which is scheduled for May 27.
Fu Wa and Feng Yi – both born on Aug 23, 2006 – are on loan to Malaysia for an annual fee of US$1mil (RM3.23mil) for 10 years.
The RM25mil enclosure, with a temperature below 24°C to simulate the pandas’ original habitat, is all geared up to welcome the pandas.
The 1.6ha “home” has, among others, an exercise space, a holding den, food preparation place, laboratory, clinic, incubator room, nursery and monitoring room.
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