Postmoment let’s you send a letter to your future self
Reporter: Charlie Leung Mun-chee
Have you ever thought of speaking to the future you – whether it is to remind yourself of childhood dreams or to encourage the older you not to be disheartened by brutal reality?
Now there is a way to do it: write a letter with the addressee “me” and choose a postage date for some years later, and then post it at Postmoment.
Postmoment will keep letters and mail them at a later, specified date. You will be delighted by the wide selection of cards sold at the store. They are mostly designed by local artists like Ivan Ko, and some of them are made of unconventional materials like hard wood.
There is also the option of just using their mailing service if the cards on offer do not cater to your taste. After sealing your letter, you are free to set the sending date, which can range from several months later to a maximum of 50 years later.
Postmoment makes a service commitment to due delivery. The shop makes a promise to every customer that their letter will be mailed by the time they specify. Even if the store closes down, the three partners will still keep all the letters and continue the mailing business. Moreover, the customers are welcome to contact the partners by email for any missing or delayed delivery.
One of the three partners, Johnxon Tai, says the idea comes from an art shop in Beijing. He feels that posting something to your future self is a nostalgic and romantic act. “The service allows the customers to recall their memories from the past,” says Tai, “like walking into a ‘time tunnel’.”
The idea has been well-received in the community. Tai recalls a secondary school student who thanked him for the service because he had cherished the dream of writing a letter to himself since he was little.
The service is also a welcome one for those who are tired of emails and SMS, methods of communication that are often devoid of the human touch. Postmoment offers not just the chance to take a journey in time, it also encourages you to pick up your pen again. Since posting to your future self is difficult to do via electronic means that stress real-time delivery, the service could also help to revive a letter-writing culture.
The mailing service is for cards and letters, but not packages. Pricing depends on the date set for you to receive the letter. It costs HK$15 for delivery within one year, and another HK$5 for each additional year, with an extra charge for the postage stamps.
There is more to do at Postmoment than just buying cards and posting. A visit to the store is worthwhile even you do not feel like spending.
There are several nicely designed notebooks inside the store for visitors to write or draw in for free. The guestbooks are there to provide stressed Hong Kong people a chance to unwind and express their feelings. There is a page where a terminally ill patient has written down his words of gratitude towards his parents and friends.
All the services offered at Postmoment seem to be directed towards the same message – treasure every moment in the past, present, and the future.
