Dubai: As an eight-year-old, Abdullah Khoury watched his father collect stamps and wanted to have his own collection.
The hobby grew with age and led to Khoury founding the Emirates Philatelic Association in collaboration with 22 other philatelists (stamp-collectors) in 1996. The association has grown to 350 members today.
Talking about his love for philately, Khoury, now 52, said: “In our generation, we did not have many things to keep us entertained. As I watched my father collect stamps, I did the same thing and stored them in albums. As I grew older, I started becoming more professional and specific with the things I collected, which is the case with every philatelist.”
Khoury first started collecting stamps from the Middle East. The Gulf region was his next focus, followed by the UAE, and finally it was Dubai postal history.
“In 1986, I was introduced to covers from earlier dates of Dubai postal history, so I got fond of it. I’m now focused on collecting these stamps, which feature the development of Dubai’s postal services. I’m doing my studies in it. I have also participated in international exhibitions to share my collection,” Khoury said.
Emirates Post Group helped Khoury set up the Emirates Philatelic Association by hosting meetings and gathering collectors. The members of the association today come from different nationalities with the youngest being eight years old.
“We organise exhibitions in schools and malls. Stamps have the power to showcase everything related to our country, from its history, culture, geography, climate and more,” he said.
Khoury advises people to collect stamps as a hobby and not as an investment. “One of the challenges we face is Emirates Post proposing to replace stamps with digital stickers. This will restrict the usage of stamps and can kill philately.”
Khoury has been awarded the gold medal in Dubai postal history exhibit and Abu Dhabi traditional exhibit.
