Kuala Lumpur - There are only 78 weavers in the State. Surprisingly, these include some prisoners.
According to Kraftangan Malaysia, the market share of Tenun Pahang last year was RM403,585 out of RM73 million in revenue from sales of traditional fabrics. Batik share is RM59 million while songket amounted to RM9.7 million.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak, who is from Pahang, suggested that people wear official attire made of Tenun Pahang to attend official functions. He also said that convocation robes for institutes of higher learning in Pahang should also be made of the fabric.
Najib said that with the completion of the Institut Kemahiran Tenun Pahang Diraja in Pekan next year, the State Government and Perbadanan Kraftangan will be able to institute a more effective plan for the training of weavers, marketing and development of Pahang‘s traditional fabrics.
Some leading Malaysian designers joined hands for the first time in a fashion show to promote Tenun Pahang at the Craft Complex in Jalan Conlay, Kuala Lumpur. They said Tenun Pahang worked well for their designs and that with proper measures taken to revive the industry, it should have a very bright future.
In fact, Datuk Bernard Chandran wondered "if the weavers can meet the demand". He said: "Tenun Pahang is limited in production and is more for luxury lines at the moment. The strong point of the fabric is that it‘s quite stiff and is good for structured clothes." Datuk Tom Abang Saufi, however, said the softness of Tenun Pahang cotton makes it suitable for tropical wear.
Datin Sharifah Kirana said with Tenun Pahang, she can work in lots of her favourite motifs like bunga cempaka and liven them up with gold thread and semi precious stones.
Mohd Nazari Maarus said Tenun Pahang had a good future as it can be used for all types of outfits. "I had brought the collection to London, Indonesia and Brunei and the response was very good." Weaving a family business WHEN asked how much she could earn every month, tenun weaver Hajah Rihan Hayani Haji Mohd Taib from Kampung Pulau Keladi, Pekan, just smiled.
"Not much, just enough to survive," said the soft spoken Hayani, who won the first prize of RM5,000 in the Royal Pahang Weaving Contest held in conjunction with Malam Tenun Pahang Diraja in Kuala Lumpur.
She has been weaving Tenun Pahang for more than 30 years. Her winning entry, a two metre by a quarter metre piece of fabric took her a week to produce, using RM200 worth of cotton and gold threads.
"All my family members entered the contest but I am the only one who won," she said proudly.
Weaving is a family business and Hayani has three sons and three daughters who are skilled at weaving too.
"At first, when I tried to teach them, they said it was boring but after some time, they too enjoyed doing it." BY: John Tiong
Source: http://travel.asiaone.com (July 16, 2008)
