KUCHING: A young Sabahan designer wishes to make it big in the furniture industry with his invention of “Talaba” chair design.
Rudy Edi is one of the participants in the first batch of Pool of Young Designers (Poyod) programme currently undergoing industrial training at Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in Bandung, Indonesia.
According to Rudy, “Talaba” means pearl in Tagalog language. The idea for the chair design was inspired by the fishermen community in his hometown in Sabah.
“The idea was mooted in my hometown which is near to the ocean so I am used to see the fishermen community in the area.
“I was inspired by their routine in earning a living especially during monsoon season where I get to witness how they fix their fishing net etc,” he told New Sarawak Tribune at the Sarawak Timber SMEs Expo 2019 at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK), yesterday.
Rudy added that he also found a similarity between Malaysia and Indonesia in terms of the two regions’ beads. He realised that the beads used by the ethnic Dayaks in Sarawak can also be found in Kalimantan.
With that, he combined the fishermen skill of fixing their nets and the beads in designing the “Talaba” seat.
“All the materials used, the designing process and the production were done in Bandung, Indonesia as part of our work in industrial training at the ITB, while the end product belongs to STIDC,” he said.
“Talaba” is one of three products by Rudy exclusively made for display at the Sarawak Timber SMEs Expo. He had exhibited two other products at the Index expo in Mumbai India, the Australian International Furniture Fair in Melbourne and the Downtown Design Exhibition in Dubai.
He said the “Talaba” is the first prototype and he was working on the second prototype of the chair.
“This will not be the final design. We try to get as much feedback from members of the public on the design displayed at this expo. We will consider the feedbacks received for improvement on the second prototype.”
Rudy said that participating in the programme gave him the opportunity to receive a lot of knowledge and get different design perspectives. He mentioned that the Indonesian people appreciate design more than Malaysians.
“They take design and arts very seriously. The craftsmen themselves are very talented and more hands-on compared to Malaysians.
“We may have the technology and the money but we depend a lot on machinery while in Indonesia, they do a lot by their own hands where it actually widens opportunities for new ideas, techniques and innovation,” he said.
