Sarawak
Kraftangan Malaysia ... to Do More to Ensure Quality for Our Local Handicraft
Products
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Perhaps unknown
to many including the locals, our handicraft products are quite a thing
to be proud of. This is because it is superior in terms of quality and workmanship
to many handicrafts products from the other neighbouring countries like
Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand. That is why our handicraft products
are rather a well sought after products especially among those who appreciates
handicraft products.
In view of this encouraging response from the consumers towards our local
handicrafts, The Malaysian Handicraft Development Cooperation (Perbadanan
Kemajuan Kraftangan Malaysia (PKKM) has taken a proactive measure by giving
advice and guidance to help entrepreneurs enhance the quality
of their products.
Kraftangan Malaysia, which previously was an agency under the Ministry of
Entrepreneurs Development and Cooperatives, now is placed under the Culture,
Arts and Heritage Ministry. All the while,Kraftangan Malaysia has been helping
the local handicrafts industry including the Sarawak Handicrafts Industry
to produce innovative products that meet the market demands so they can
stay competitive.
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The
Krafttangan Malaysia centre at
Jalan Satdium,Petra Jaya. |
Director of the Perbadanan Kemajuan Kraftangan Malaysia for
Sarawak, Encik Latif bin Dirun, said the local industry players are facing
stiff competition from those of the neighbouring countries like Indonesia
and Thailand which are able to mass produced their crafts at a cheaper rate
than ours. “We can only
compete using our high quality and excellent workmanship which these countries
may not be able to beat”, he added. Therefore, he said, besides producing
high quality products, our craft industry in Sarawak must come up with products
in which designs, colors and shapes are able to attract customer’s
attention. We need to continuously conduct studies to enhance quality, color
and to be innovative in ensuring the products produced are competitive,
he further explained.
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Encik
Latif bin Dirun,
Kraftangan Malaysia
Sarawak director
explaining the role and
contribution of
Kraftangan Malaysia in
helping local handicraft
producers to promote
their crafts |
Realizing this,
the Sarawak Kraftangan Malaysia, would always try to help the local entrepreneurs
by giving advice, training and guidance. That includes involving certain
area or kampungs in the special programme of One District One Industry Project.
This programme is being conducted nationwide to help develop the local crafts
industries in the country. The types of products to be developed will depends
on the skills of the participants, the accessibility of raw materials near
the areas earmarked and the response of the people involved. Among the products
under this programme is woodcarving and textile weaving.
Roles and Functions
In Sarawak, Kraftangan Malaysia has been in operation since 1978. It serves
as both a production and marketing centre for the local crafts industry,
especially for those who participated
in its incubator schemes.
It has been given the responsibility of polishing the skills of the craft
workers by providing training and classes on the latest technology industry
and at the same time strengthening the market for our handicraft products.
Another function of PKKM is to promote the handicraft business among the
locals by providing skilled work force through training and craft workshops
especially in the area of wood making crafts. It also contributes towards
the preservation of our cultural heritage through traditional crafts as
part of our national craft industry.
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| Some
of the sample of our high quality handicraft products that discerning
handicraft lovers recognized and appreciate |
And to do this,
the appreciation for our local crafts must be promoted and to do this we
need the locals to be involved in commercial aspects of the handicraft industry.
More locals will be keen to be involved in the industry if they could see
the profits that could be reaped from this business. PKKM’s Incubator
Scheme provides this opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs who wished to
make handicraft a source to make money to manufacture their craft products
to meet demands.
Helping Budding Entrepreneurs
According to Encik Latif bin Dirun, Director of PKKM, our handicrafts is
a much sought after product compared those mass products from the neighbouring
countries. “ “Our craftmen takes pride in their products and because
of this, are able to
produce better finished products than those that are mass produced”,
he said.
Including the Director, PKKM Sarawak has 33 staff comprising 12 trainers
while the balance 21 employees are the support staff. The other important
roles of the Incubator Scheme is is to encourage new crafts entrepreneur
to conduct their business by giving them the facilities including office
space and the use of machineries at minimum rate to help build their businesses.
The scheme also gives opportunities to the former trainees of the National
Craft Institute (Institut Craft Negara) to try their hand at the craft business
by providing them both the production facilities and the expertise to market
their crafts.
Other assistance rendered in this scheme includes consultation on production
services, technical assistance, training on the latest technology in the
manufacture of handicraft, providing the workers motivation and other services
to help them succeed in this business. Each incubation participants are
only allowed 3 years to join in the scheme.
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Kuantan Shared
Facilities
In order to ensure that participants, Kraftangan Malaysia also provide the
machines for the manufacture of handicraft at very nominal rate. This rented
service of machines used the manufacture of craft products is a shared facility
to help the craftsmen to afford the use of machines at special rates.
The current participants of the Sarawak Kraftangan Malaysia include the
following companies :
1. Tab Kraft dealing in woodcraft. It produces spoon, fork, decorative carving
etc
2. Lian Ngau Works specializing in wood works. Their special
product including the orang Ulu decorative sape.
3. Kemasan Delima that deals with sewing works
4. Permata Batik promoting batik fabric for decorative items and practical
everyday use
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