Postage Stamps of Brunei: Early History

Brunei surprisingly was the last among the Borneo states to have its own stamps. Sarawak had theirs in 1869, Labuan despite not being a state in 1879 and Sabah, then known as North Borneo in 1883. Brunei only had theirs in 1895 and even that was considered by stamp enthusiasts as unofficial. Prior to the 1895 issue, the postage stamps used in Brunei was a Sarawak one which was used in Muara, then known as Brooketon. Rajah Brooke ran the coal mining operations there and used the stamps of Sarawak for the community. That postal service in Muara operated from 1893 to 1907.

The 'first' Brunei stamps in 1895 was considered as controversial and known in the stamp world as the 'Brunei Locals'. Printed in Glasgow by a John Robertson who managed to get a concession from the Government - the government gets all internal revenues but he gets all external revenues - was considered as purely speculative. The stamps were considered as 'locals' only - to be used in Brunei but not to be used abroad and was labelled 'bogus' in its early history. For Brunei letters to be sent abroad, it had to have additional Labuan stamps as Brunei then was not a member of the Universal Postal Union (UPU). The Brunei postal services were also described as 'spasmodic' throughout 1895 to 1906 but it was a service nevertheless.

In 1906, the Brunei government started to operate its own postal service. However the first postage stamps that were due to come to Brunei from United Kingdom were said to have been lost in Singapore and an alternative was found at short notice which was to overprint the Crown Colony of Labuan postage stamps with the word BRUNEI. The Labuan stamps were first issued in Labuan in 1902. The first post office was located in the Customs House.

The first of these stamps were used in the inauguration of the Post Office in October 11th, 1906. Since so very few of these early stamps survived, the actual date of the inauguration was also in dispute with some stating that it is October 15th. The stamps are scarce as even in 1906, collectors and dealers were buying up quantities of the mint stamps for investment and it is said that the issue was so heavily speculated at the time of its release but enjoying only a very short life.

By 1907, the proper Brunei stamps had arrived known as the Brunei River Type as the stamps depicted a typical Brunei river scene. A London company, Messrs De La Rue & Co Ltd printed the 1907 stamps and intrestingly enough this same company carried on printing other Brunei stamps until about the 1970s. Between 1908 to 1920, the stamps colours conformed to the UPU requirements of three standard colours - one for printed matter, another for postcard and the third for single letters. In those days, unlike today's multicoloured and multi-image stamps, the colours were standardised to help assist international recognition of the three classes of mail. Uniformity of colours were also carried out under the colonial colour scheme so the colours also confirmed to their counterparts under the Straits Settlement. However during the first world war, Sarawak stamps were used in Brunei as the stock of stamps in Brunei ran out.

In March 1924, a new design was used as well as a change in size. The stamps now show a panoramic view of Kampung Ayer with Brunei Town in the background. The designs were adapted from a sketch made by Mr LA Allan, a former British Resident who in turn took it from a photograph taken from Bubungan Dua Belas, then used as the official residence of the British Resident. The man who took the photograph was the then Resident Mr EEF Pretty.

In 1941, the stamps were sent to Brunei in 'changed colours' and so were unused so as to allow the existing stocks to run out. When the Japanese occupied Brunei during the Second World War, the Japanese government used these unused stamps in 1942 and overprinted them with the words Imperial Japanese Government in Kanji characters.

It wasn't until 1952 before the government issued the first Brunei stamps with the picture of His Majesty Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saiffudien, the 28th Sultan thus beginning the modern era of Brunei stamps.