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Multimodal Communication pp 55–80Cite as

Postage Stamps as Windows on Social Changes and Identity in Postcolonial Hong Kong

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Abstract

By relating the three definitive stamp series made during the postcolonial period to the changing political environment in Hong Kong, this chapter identifies themes in their designs which involve attempts by government to redefine Hong Kong’s national identity vis-à-vis perceived colonial nostalgia and ever-increasing stake in and tensions with mainland China. The social-semiotic framework of Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen is again employed to analyse the constituent parts of their designs as well as to examine them within their wider social contexts that have evolved over time. Hong Kong is seen to be using its unique heritage in a time of transition and uncertainty to assist in defining a distinct identity that is partly expressed through philately. While the first and second post-handover sets of definitive issues make clear references to the Anglo-Chinese cultural link in forging a hybrid identity, the third definitive issue stresses the importance of closer integration with mainland China after the transfer of sovereignty. The experience of Hong Kong provides an insight into the dynamics of the relationship between identity, heritage and philately that are especially complex within the context of postcolonial studies.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    As far as I know, there is no published material in the public domain on the procedures for the design of the definitive issues, in either Chinese or English, although clear guidelines on the entire vetting process of the special and commemorative issues are available online at Hongkong Post’s web site (http://www.hongkongpoststamps.hk/eng/philatelic_story/birth/index.htm) (accessed 6 September 2016). I wrote to the post office and had an interview with a senior member of staff in March 2013. The verbal exchange that I had during the interview has become the major source of my information on this matter.

  2. 2.

    For instance, the definitive stamps issued in 2002 of pictorial images of eastern and western cultures (see also Sect. 3.4) were designed by one of their employees, Arde Lam Bing-pui (Lee 2001), who is also behind a range of special and commemorative issues including a set of special stamps on the theme of ‘Royal Hong Kong Regiments (The Volunteers) 1854–1995 released in 1995, the 2000 Singapore-Hong Kong Joint issue, the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games series and the ‘Centenary of HKU’ special stamps in 2011.

  3. 3.

    There are altogether four sets of definitive stamps issued by the Hongkong Post in the post-handover period. However, only the first three definitive sets published in the fifteen years after the return of sovereignty to China in 1997 were analysed in this study, given the fact that the 15th anniversary of the handover serves as a watershed in the history of the postcolonial era, as evidenced in the vast amount of news reports, op-ed pieces and scholarly research about the contested and conflicted socio-political landscape of the Hong Kong society, invariably focussing on the length of time as a cut-off point for analysis of the first perceptible sign of social change under Chinese rule (see, for example, Chan 2012; Chugani 2012; Garret 2013; Huang 2017; Kan 2012; So 2012). As Huang (2017: 473) aptly observes, “[s]ince 2003, Hong Kong has gradually transformed into a ‘social movement society’”, characterising the fifteen years that have passed since the handover as providing fertile ground for identity construction in the context of decolonisation. As for the latest set of definitive stamps issued in 2014, see the website of Hongkong Post at http://www.hongkongpoststamps.hk/eng/stamps/definitive_stamps/2014/introduction.htm (accessed 6 September 2016) for a more detailed account of the rationale behind the design and its chosen theme.

  4. 4.

    For copyright reasons the images discussed (see Hongkong post stamps catalogue (vol. II) 2007) in this chapter are not reproduced here, only represented as diagrams. The reader is invited to view them online, either through any major search engine or via the following links (all functional on 6 September 2016):

    1999 Hong Kong definitive stamps (Fig. 3.1): http://www.hongkongpoststamps.hk/eng/library/1999/index.htm

    2002 Hong Kong definitive stamps (Fig. 3.2): http://www.hongkongpoststamps.hk/eng/library/2002/index.htm

    2006 Hong Kong definitive stamps (Fig. 3.3): http://www.hongkongpoststamps.hk/eng/library/2006/index.htm

    2002–2006 China definitive stamps (Fig. 3.4): http://www.luckystamps.com/China-Stamp-2002-2006-R31-Definitive-China-Birds-9v-Full-Set-MNH.html

  5. 5.

    As an anonymous reviewer points out, the juxtaposition of eastern and western cultural practices was already a feature of Hong Kong stamps from as early as 1938 (George IV definitive series in which a modern liner is juxtaposed with a junk, a traditional clipper with a seaplane), potentially serving as an anticipation of the more systematic juxtaposition of traditions and technologies exemplified in the 2002 HK definitive set. The author would like to thank the reviewer for making this comment.

  6. 6.

    For example, images of rocks found on Hong Kong’s outlying islands such as Peng Chau, Lamma Island, Port Island and Po Pin Chau constituted a special issue in September 2002, whereas Hong Kong’s butterflies were the theme of two special issues in 1979 and 2007.

  7. 7.

    For example, White-bellied Sea Eagle (10 cents), Collared Scops Owl (20 cents), Scarlet Minivet (50 cents), Common Kingfisher ($1), Fork-tailed Sunbird ($1.4), Roseate Tern ($1.8), Black-faced Spoonbill ($1.9), Little Egret ($2), Greater Painted-snipe ($2.4), Barn Swallow ($2.5), Red-whiskered Bulbul ($3), Long-tailed Shrike ($5), White Wagtail ($10), Northern Shoveler ($13), Common Magpie ($20), and Dalmatian Pelican ($50). The information can be found at Hongkong Post’s web site: http://www.hongkongpoststamps.hk/eng/stamps/definitive_stamps/2006/introduction.htm (accessed 6 September 2016).

  8. 8.

    Commenting on an exhibition by Matthew Turner (one of the most eminent graphic design scholars in the city), titled Hong Kong Sixties: Designing Identity at the Hong Kong Arts Centre in 1994, Wong notes that the exhibition “triggered a strong response from the public since Hong Kong was getting closer to July 1997 and the whole society was nostalgic about the good old memories of the colonial era” (2011: 384–385).

  9. 9.

    See Kan (2012) for a comprehensive analysis of the national education debate.

  10. 10.

    The survey was conducted by the Public Opinion Program of the University of Hong Kong. See their press release on 26 June 2012 available online at http://hkupop.hku.hk/english/release/release937.html (accessed 6 September 2016).

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  1. School of English, University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong

    May Wong

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Wong, M. (2019). Postage Stamps as Windows on Social Changes and Identity in Postcolonial Hong Kong. In: Multimodal Communication. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15428-8_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15428-8_3

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