Kota Kinabalu - The Sabah handicraft industry will pay the price in the long run if it does not improve the quality of local products but keep relying on those from neighbouring countries.
State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said it is very disheartening because local handicraft makers were too easily satisfied with the amount and quality of their end products.
"One of the reasons our products are not as good (as those from other countries) is because we only limit ourselves to do it part time," he said when officiating at the "Crafts Exotica 2008"-cum-launching of the state level "International Museum Day" at Sabah Museum.
Because of this attitude, Sabah has never been able to produce superior handcrafts. Masidi said while it is not wrong for entrepreneurs to sell these crafts from the Philippines and Indonesia, they should not claim that it is made in Sabah.
Sooner or later, these tourists would know the difference between handicrafts produced by Sabah craftsmen and those produced from other countries.
Inevitably, when this happens, it would drive the tourists away since they could get the handicrafts from elsewhere.
Masidi said the craftsmen were also too easily contented with the quality of their crafts. "In the short and middle run, it is sustainable but in the long run, it is our people who would be at the losing end," he stressed.
The Karanaan Assemblyman said craftsmen should consider making handicrafts as a full time career by learning skills from other experts including those from Indonesia and the Philippines.
"Why can`t we produce people who are passionate in producing workmanship crafts?" he asked.
He said Sabah craftsmen should grab any opportunity to deepen their knowledge in the trade by attending courses organised by the Malaysian Handicraft Corporation.
On other developments, Masidi said that more efforts must be carried out to attract visitors to other segments of the Sabah Museum Department namely the Islamic Museum located just a stone`s throw away from the main museum building.
He claimed that not many visited the museum because of the amount of artefacts being displayed in the multi-million ringgit facility.
He said that so much effort has been put to set up the Islamic Museum and yet its "software content" was too little.
"As a Muslim, sometimes I feel embarrassed because we keep on displaying the same thing. "We can have RM50 million worth of hardware (building) but if there is no software, there is no attraction," he said.
He suggested that the Sabah Museum Department stock the Islamic Museum with knowledge regarding the religion so as to attract more people to visit the facility.
Masidi also proposed that the museum carry out seasonal exhibitions.
He said that they must have the courage to try out something new if they wish to achieve better results.
Also present were Sabah Museum Director Datuk Joseph Pounis Guntavid, Permanent Secretary Suzannah Liaw and Chairman of Sabah Tourism Board (STB) Tengku Datuk Zainal Adlin.
Source: www.dailyexpress.com (21 Mei 2008)
