Be Biggest Textile And Batik Exporter
February 25th, 2006 Category Craft, Furniture, HandicraftDatuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi wants the textile and batik industry to be developed until Malaysia becomes the biggest exporter of these products in the world.
The prime minister said Malaysia had the capability to do this because it had high quality batik and a host of fashion designers whose works were recognised locally and overseas.
Big names like Tom Abang Saufi, Bernard Chandran and Rizalman as well as the new fashion designers can change the fashion world,” he said when opening a seminar jointly organised by Yayasan Budi Penyayang Malaysia and the state government here.
Abdullah said he was thankful that Malaysian batik was gaining popularity and was used by fashion designers in their creations.
He said the use of batik was no longer confined to the baju kurung and he was proud to note that batik had gained the attention of foreign participants at international conferences.
He said that although Indonesia also had its batik, the design was different from Malaysia’s.
He appreciated Yayasan Budi Penyayang’s collaboration with the National Handicraft Centre to run an incubator programme, to be started soon, to train batik producers.
Under this programme, young people would be trained in batik production and after gaining experience they in turn would train new ones, Abdullah said.
He said that although his wife, Datin Seri Endon Mahmood, was no longer here the foundation’s work was continued by her friends.
In a sad tone he urged the foundation to continue with the batik initiative started by Endon until it realised its objective.
After Endon’s death, their daughter, Nori Abdullah, took over as the foundation’s chairman.
Source: bernama.com
