IKN Grads: Boon For Songket-Weaving Industry
Bernama, Malaysia
By Nurul Halawati Azhari
SHAH ALAM, Feb 22 (Bernama) — The National Craft Institute’s (IKN) move to initiate the Handicraft Service Scheme, in an effort to produce diploma and certificate-level graduates in handicraft-making, has begun to bear fruit.
The reason? These IKN graduates are in great demand by local handicraft producers who need the innovation and creativity of these skilled individuals.
Before being accepted into IKN, the applicants are required to undergo stringent screening.
From thousands of individuals who apply for IKN admission, via advertisements published in the local dailies, the applicants are called for interview sessions that test their skills and talents in drawing and painting.
Fully sponsored by the government, the successful applicants then undergo the certificate-level course (two and a half years) or diploma-level (three years) course.
There are areas of specialisation offered — batik-painting, songket-weaving, rattan product-making, metalwork, wood-carving and pottery.
The trainees’ talents, creativity and skills are honed in creating traditional and contemporary designs and high-quality work.
The programme is not just for the acquiring of knowledge and sharpening of skills, but also for a noble cause, that is, to produce generations that will be able to continue the various forms of art and hence, preserving the nation’s handicraft heritage and treasures.
HANDICRAFT SERVICE SCHEME
According to Selangor Handicraft director Mohd Suhilme Idrus, the Handicraft Service Scheme is compulsory for all IKN trainees.
Under this scheme, the students will be assigned for training stints at handicraft-making industries registered with the Malaysian Handicraft Development Corporation (Kraftangan Malaysia).
As an agency under the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry, Kraftangan Malaysia is tasked with developing and conserving the country’s handicraft heritage.
Apart from channelling expertise to local handicraft makers, Kraftangan Malaysia also assists in providing raw materials and promoting the products of handicraft-makers registered with the agency.
IKN is making a major contribution to the craft-making industry by supplying it with skilled and capable graduates. This was evident during a visit by mass media representatives to a songket-weaving facility here recently.
For 27-year-old Leena Hassan, the manager of Mahkota Songket, a subsidiary of Atur Sdn Bhd, the company is fortunate to have obtained IKN-trained artisans.
Their skills and expertise have given a tremendous boost to Mahkota Songket’s product quality. The three IKN graduates sent to the company have proven to be among the best and the trio have been listed as Mahkota Songket’s skilled employees.
IKN GRADS
One of the IKN graduates employed by Mahkota Songket, Siti Farha Zainol Abidin, was busy weaving songket when met by journalists during the visit.
It was clear that this Kedah-born songket-weaver was trying to inject some fresh contemporary elements into the design that she was working on.
“After completing the course at IKN, I was employed here (Mahkota Songket). My gratification is to see each work being completed.
“So far, my efforts have been based on the concepts provided by the designer and the traditional patterns already in existence in the manual. However, today I have the opportunity to come out with my own design,” said the 23-year-old Siti Farha.
The company also employs two of Farha’s IKN colleagues — Mazlina Yaakob and Fazlina Zainal, both 24. The trio agreed that the skills they obtained during their course at the institute was invaluable.
They also concurred that the songket-weaving field had great potential for further development.
IKN has also opened its doors to applicants from states other than Terengganu and Pahang, known for their songket-weaving prowess.
“The very least, the songket-weaving skill is spread further. It is hoped that IKN will produce more skilled manpower in this field as currently, there is greater interest in making batik and ceramics. Songket-weaving, however, does provide ample job opportunities,” said Farha.
WOVEN SONGKET FROM SHAH ALAM
Many would be tempted to ask how a songket-weaving facility has cropped up in an industrialised urban area like Shah Alam since this heritage has been long associated or synonymous with Terengganu and Pahang.
According to Leena, who manages her family business since 2003, Mahkota Songket initially supplied the raw materials for batik-making and various threads like those of cotton, polyester, filament, and artificial and natural silk imported from China for local and Brunei songket-weavers.
As the sole local supplier of such items, Mahkota Songket moved a step further by setting up a branch in Terengganu to cater for the demand for these raw materials in the state and the east coast of the peninsula.
Another feather in its cap is that Mahkota Songket is now a leading Bumiputera enterprise in machine-woven songket production. It adopts the machine-weaving technology from Pakistan and has procured four such machines at RM100,000 each.
KAIN SAMPIN
Since 2000, Mahkota Songket is the supplier of “kain sampin” to go with the “baju Melayu” for the armed forces, police and Fire and Rescue Department personnel. It also supplies machine-woven “kain sampin” for schools.
“A hand-woven songket cloth takes about one month while that of machine-woven merely takes 30 minutes to be ready and 30 of them can be made within a day, or about 200 pieces in a month,” said Leena.
“Despite being machine-made, the quality is maintained although it is no match for the hand-woven cloth. A machine-woven songket piece (depending on size) is priced between RM30 and RM1,000, while the hand-woven ones start at RM200, depending on the size and design.”
Despite commercially mass-producing the songket cloth, the company does not neglect the traditional features that have made songket the country’s prestigious heritage.
HAND-WOVEN SONGKET TO STAY
Still, the company, with its skilled manpower, continues with the traditional way of weaving songket as this provides clients with an alternative.
This is so as hand-woven songket is able to utilise threads of various colours as against that of the machine-woven type that uses only four colours.
“This way, the industry not only contributes to Selangor (economy), but also helps to conserve the nation’s heritage,” said Leena, who is in the midst of preparing for the National Craft Expo organised by the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry in conjunction with this year’s Merdeka (independence) celebration.
The exposition, scheduled for March 6-18, is geared to be the biggest of such event since it was first held in 2003. To be held at the Kuala Lumpur Handicraft Complex in Jalan Conlay, Kuala Lumpur, it is expected to draw over 400 local handicraft entrepreneurs.
– BERNAMA
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