MIRI: The development of Sarawak’s textile industry is expected to provide new opportunities to push up output levels, create employment and help the tourism sector to grow.
Minister of Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development, Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah, who has expressed optimism in this, said Sarawak has achieved a breakthrough is the production of batik.
She meant that “linut” (derived from sago flour), which is a heritage food in the state, is added during the process of making the fabric.
“Combining food, art and fashion in this manner is very innovative. With this we want to position the ‘batik linut’ as out homegrown product,” she said on Thursday night during a “batik linut” fashion show at a local hotel.
According to her, most batik businesses are categorised as small-medium enterprises (SMEs). Looking at date compiled by the Department of Statistics Malaysia as of February this year, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) make up 97.4 per cent of Malaysia’s business establishments in 2021. There are 1,226,494 registered MSMEs in the service sector.
She pointed out that even though batik production has long been established in this country, it is unfortunately still dominated by micro-enterprises at around 78.6 per cent in 2021.
The total number of registered batik stamp and hand-drawn batik entrepreneurs in 2019 was 651, mostly located in Kelantan and Terengganu (Re: Perbadanan Kraftangan Malaysia).
Textile-based merchandise was reported to be the largest sales contributor (49 per cent) to the overall craft industry which amounts to RM243 million in 2017.
“In this share, 81 per cent or close to 196.83 million worth of sales was accrued from batik. So, there is a huge opportunity for the batik industry even though the players are categorised as micro-enterprises,” Fatimah said.
“We should not lose hope. Although most creative industries in Malaysia fall in the category of micro-enterprises, I believe they have huge potential.”
According to her, it is a task for batik producers like Batik Linut Sdn Bhd to revive the industry and adapt the fabric to modern lifestyle as daily wear and decorative purposes.
“We must create a sense of belonging and appreciation among the younger generation for our culture. We want Sarawakians to wear our local batik proudly,” she said.
The art of making batik, she pointed out, is part of the education framework and youth should be trained in batik making so that the industry will have talent reserves and won’t be short of skilled workers.
She pointed out that preservation of batik requires conscientious and aligned efforts by various parties, that is, the governments, cultural organisations, producers and local communities.
“It is everybody’s effort,” she said.
Also present at the event were Tokoh Kepimpinan Pendidikan Kebangsaan 2022 Datuk Dr Adi Badiozaman @Badio Zaman Tuah (who is also Fatimah’s husband) and Lamin Dana managing director Diana Ross.
