For Yen Han-ping (顏漢平), a military instructor at Pingtung County’s Laiyi Senior High School, his collection of mugs is his passion.
These are not just any mugs: Yen’s collection features the limited-edition mugs the Republic of China Navy makes for the annual voyage of the Friendship Flotilla, as well as anniversary mugs made for the ships.
“Mugs are the most common type of souvenir made by the navy, as manufacturing costs are low and mugs are versatile. They can be just a mug or an ashtray,” Yen said.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
At NT$200 per mug, most of his collection are worth next to nothing, Yen said.
He obtained his first mug in 1997 when was selected to do his military service in the navy after graduating from Fu Hsing Kang College.
Since then, Yen has collected mugs bearing the images of surface ships or submarines.
He also collects misprints, which are rare, as most are immediately destroyed when the mistakes are discovered, Yen said.
In one instance, four sets had been commissioned at the same time for separate ships, but the manufacturer mistakenly printed the same hull number on all four.
“The officer who received the faulty batch was furious and smashed the mugs right there at the harbor,” Yen said.
His collection of mugs — which he lined up on a table — differ in sizes and designs. Some are glazed or enamel; others frosted glass.
Among the approximately 500 mugs are the images of an assortment of ships, including Yang-class vessels, which were decommissioned in 2006, and Mei-class landing ships, which were decommissioned in 2005.
The Yang-class ships have the Chinese character “yang” (陽) in their names and were obtained under the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, which was annulled in 1980 and replaced with the US’ Taiwan Relations Act.
As the mugs are primarily souvenirs made available to members of the navy, Yen said he thought he would have to give up collecting when he left the navy in 2007 — at which time he had 291 mugs — to work for the Ministry of Education as a school military instructor.
“I was pleasantly surprised when former colleagues would bring me new mugs,” Yen said, adding that some of his students who later joined the military would also bring him mugs.
His collection is another record of naval matters, as the mugs preserve the image of ships from different eras, Yen said.
From his collection, the development of the navy can be tracked through the years, he said.
He spends time every day going over his collection and cleans it monthly, he said, adding that guests are welcome to drink out of the mugs.
“Seeing guests hold the mugs and listen to my stories about them makes me proud to be the owner of such a collection,” Yen said.
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