The Post: Still relevant in the digital age
 When
did you post a letter last? If you are on email, Viber, Skype and the
like, you may not have sent a real, personal letter in a long time. On
the other hand, you most probably still get letters in the mail, now
called snail mail to differentiate it from email. These could be limited
to bank statements and bills, but it proves that the Post is still
relevant in this day of instant communication. And, did you know that
the post is actually growing on the back of the huge volume of parcels
generated by e-commerce sites around the world?
Today, on World Post Day, we celebrate that physical link that
connects the globe. It is celebrated each year on 9 October, the
anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union in 1874,
in the Swiss Capital, Bern. It was declared World Post Day by the UPU
Congress held in Tokyo, Japan in 1969. Since then, countries across the
world participate annually in the celebrations. The Post in many
countries use the event to introduce or promote new postal products and
services.
Unmistakable
In Sri Lanka, you can go to the remotest village in the middle of
nowhere and still find an unmistakable sign of connectivity to the
outside world - the Post Office. Long before today's always-connected
world became a reality, this was the only place that had a telephone; it
was the only place where one could post a letter to someone living on
the other side of the world. It may have taken ages to get there, but it
had an intimate, personal touch.
Times have indeed changed now. Everyone has at least two phones and
can talk for free to someone on the other side of the world for as long
as you want, through Skype or Viber. If you still like to write, there
is always email. You 'post' your email now and the recipient gets it in
seconds. Does this mean that the post office and the postal system are
dead? Far from it.
Relatives
 The Post Office has also evolved with the times, though it has not
happened in all countries at the same pace. Today, the Post Office is
the place where your relatives abroad send you money; it is the place
where you do your banking activities; if you have no access to the
Internet at home, this is the ideal place to visit; If you have a parcel
to send locally or abroad, bring it to the post office; And if you are
still old-fashioned, this is still the place for sending that physical
letter.
Despite all the technological advances, the Post Office still remains
relevant, but it does face many challenges. Yes, the Post is worth
celebrating for what it has done to shape our modern world - it all
began with a very simple idea - you fix a stamp; send a letter from
anywhere in the world and that country will deliver it to the doorstep
of the recipient, all for free. With all countries agreeing to this
basic formula, the postal system was a great success that paved the way
for rapid communications around the world. It is thus not surprising at
all that there is a special day for the world's postal service.
Competition
Today, there are 640,000 post offices around the world that help
deliver 450 billion letters, parcels and other documents every year. Not
even the most well-entrenched courier companies can claim these numbers.
There is healthy competition between the two sectors and the postal
services in some countries are practically owned by courier companies,
but the post office is far cheaper and more accessible. The Post is
truly a public service for every citizen, irrespective of one's position
in society.
With e-commerce growing, there is room for both the Post and the
courier companies to share the spoils. In fact, e-commerce giant Amazon
has signed an agreement with the US Postal Service to deliver parcels on
Sundays, because it could not cope with the demand with the help of its
usual logistics partners. Global online sales have reached US$ 1.5
trillion - even if courier companies claim 50 per cent of the online
parcel delivery business, post offices can still gain heavily.
Remittance
We should also look at the countless other ways in which the Post
Office helps us to lead better lives: Post offices are the cheapest
providers of remittance services, ahead of banks and money transfer
operators. Posts are also the second biggest providers of financial
services after banks, with one billion people holding postal accounts.
They have also become one-stop shops where you can do everything from
paying your credit card bill to sending a fax abroad. In some countries,
including Sri Lanka, they even issue ID cards to students. The Post,
through the Philatelic Bureau is also connected with the hobby of stamp
collecting which cuts across age barriers. The humble postage stamp,
first designed in 1840, has come a long way and given us a treasure
trove of knowledge on countries, personalities and contemporary issues.
Rare stamps are in high demand around the world.
There is even the possibility that old-fashioned letter writing is
making a comeback. There is no sense of immediacy or intimacy in an
email, but a physical letter can be treasured for generations to come.
There are many people who still treasure the letters written to them by
their mothers and fathers. Have you seen those war movies where the hero
waits eagerly to get letters from home, even amid the sounds of gunfire?
That is what letter writing is all about.
Generation
There is an emotional attachment to a physical letter that no virtual
email can ever match. Perhaps, we will have a generation that will take
some time away from their busy lives to write a letter occasionally to a
loved one or friend living in another city or country. There's something
inherently wonderful about penning down your thoughts, inserting that
paper in an envelope, affixing a stamp and sending it away to an address
thousands of miles away.
This is what the Post has been doing and will continue to do,
hopefully for many more decades to come. It connects people,
transcending all barriers and bringing nations closer. It is a work in
progress, adapting to changing technologies and changing times. The Post
Office is still our biggest physical link to the outside world and as
more people avoid the shops and go online, it will be even more relevant
to our lives.
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