Batik lovers: Promote fabric aggressively

By Nor Ain Mohamed Radhi - September 16, 2019 @ 10:09am

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A man checking out

a batik shirt at a boutique in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. PIC BY HAFIZ SOHAIMI

KUALA LUMPUR: Batik lovers hope more efforts are made by stakeholders to promote the
national fabric to tourists, such as setting up pop-up booths at malls or tourist hotspots.

They hope to see a more diverse range of batik products to give options to tourists to take
home as souvenirs.

Zulfadli Muhsin, 28, said Malaysians should promote batik aggressively by wearing it
regularly.

“This is one of the best ways to promote our batik so that tourists become more aware of our
national heritage and identity.

“In Indonesia, people wear batik as a casual and daily attire. It draws interest from visitors
who want to bring such clothes back home as souvenirs.”

He said Visit Malaysia Year 2020 (VMY 2020) could be the best platform to introduce
Malaysian batik to foreigners.

“Maybe batik should be given a more prominent place at tourism events next year. Similarly,
Malaysians can do their part by wearing it to work.”

Another batik fan, Mohd Azam Hamdan, 25, said more booths selling batik should be opened
at tourist hotspots.
“Sometimes, visitors spend their time only in Kuala Lumpur. So it is best to have stalls selling
batik at tourist hotspots, such as shopping malls and light rail transit stations. Batik makers
should come up with fresher designs and colours, as well as smaller batik products that appeal
to tourists and locals.”

He said tour agencies should be encouraged to promote visits to batik outlets and factories to
tourists as part of their tour packages.

“Batik can drive the country’s economy through the revenue generated from its sales,” he
said.

Izzat Azwan, 29, said batik entrepreneurs should take the opportunity offered by VMY 2020
to boost their promotions.

“Batik was once associated with older people and worn only at formal events. But now we
have fresher designs that appeal to youths, with prices that are affordable. More people also
wear them as their daily attire,” he said.

To betourists
“We should boost our promotional efforts to encourage used toin purchase Malaysian batik,”
he said here. main point 1
Izzat said he first became interested in the fabric during a visit to Indonesia a few years ago,
after seeing Indonesians donning their batik as casual wear.

“We should have Malaysian batik ingrained into our DNA the way Indonesians are doing
with theirs,” said Izzat.

Tourism Malaysia director-general Datuk Musa Yusof, when asked about initiatives to boost
batik, said the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry would continue to support initiatives to
promote batik as part of VMY 2020.

He said “Keretapi Sarong”, which promotes sarong to be worn by train users on the Mass Rail
Transit and LRT trains, as well as KTM Komuter trains, was part of the efforts to promote the
fabric.

“The Malaysian Handicraft Development Corp is doing its part to promote batik. We are also
doing our part to promote it. For instance, when we undertake working trips overseas, we
encourage our delegation to wear Malaysian (batik).”

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2019/09/521720/batik-lovers-promote-fabric-
aggressively