By NUR ASHIKIN LOUIS & LEE SHAW WEI
KUCHING: Bamboo is one of the materials being highlighted at this year’s Sarawak Timber & SMEs Expo which began on June 27 and ends today.
In line with the state government’s effort to promote the utilisation of bamboo as an alternative to natural timber and other materials, the organiser has invited international participants such as Indonesia, which has years of experience in commercialising bamboo.
The expo is jointly organised by the state’s Industrial and Entrepreneur Development Ministry, Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corportion (Stidc) and the Urban Development and Natural Resources Ministry.
From Indonesia comes the Indonesian Bamboo Community (IBC) led by its president Adang Muhidin.
As the name denotes, IBC is all about how bamboo can be used to make things.
“In this expo, my booth offers bamboo-based products such as guitars, Sunda trumpets, flutes, drums, watches, rings and lamps. So far, half of the products displayed have been sold,” he pointed out.
Emphasising that the highlights of his booth were the musical instruments, the 45-year-old from West Bandung, claimed that he had pioneered the art making of bamboo-based musical instruments in his country.
After creating the world’s first bamboo violin in 2011, Adang decided to focus entirely on venturing into the bamboo industry.
“In Indonesia, bamboo is available everywhere and is considered cheap to the extent that it has almost no value in the market.
“With that being said, I was inspired to transform bamboo into something valuable.
“I believe that bamboo is a material which can become an alternative to plastic and iron in the future market, especially for the lower-income society.
“The bamboo industry can be lifted to a higher level by adding value to it. What is left for us to do is to use technology to turn bamboo into a value-added product,” he elaborated.
Adang added that he tried to attract music lovers as his audience when marketing his bamboo-based products.
Under his entrepreneurship patron, he revealed that he offered various attractions such as production of goods, workshops and music.
In a way, he was also able to offer job opportunities to the community, especially in the establishment of a subsidiary musical band called “D’bamboo Essentials”.
Echoing the same opinion, 69-year-old Purbito from Bandung, believed that bamboo could go beyond than just an alternative for timber products.
The entrepreneur said, “Apart from its potential to be a material for the furniture industry, bamboo lovers like me believe that it can also be used to make other products such as clothing and handicraft.
“We have yet to see any inventions of hats made from bamboo so we chose to be the pioneers. At the same time, we also try to diversify the utilisation of bamboo by producing shirts, songkok, shoes, gloves, and more,” he said.
According to Purbito, he wanted bamboo to be not only pleasing to the eyes but also be utilised in daily life.
“We help young people learn about the manufacturing of bamboo products so that they can contribute in the bamboo industry by coming up with new inventions and innovations,” he said.
Purbito also emphasised that the expo was a good platform to promote bamboo products and open up opportunities for bamboo commercialisation.
“The visitors of the expo are very impressed with the bamboo products displayed and many have started to show interest in venturing into the industry,” he said.
