How relevant is craft to a tourist visiting Malaysia? It would depend on the type of tourist, If he has come to escape the cold of winter, or better yet, to see the underwater beauty of the seas surrounding Sipadan Island, then the answer would probably be No.
How would you help promote Malaysian handicraft?
True, Malaysian craft is beautiful, but if the innate interest is not there, then it is likely that he would not appreciate it, even though it is available everywhere in Malaysia, including hotels. A recent call by Malaysia’s Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim to promote Malaysian handicraft at hotels is a call worth supporting but it in itself will not ensure the continued growth of Malaysian handicraft.
How would you help promote Malaysian handicraft? Do you even care enough to buy one?
Read the full article below:
There should be more promotion drives for Malaysian handicraft at hotels as these could serve as a platform to bring local creativity to a higher level, said Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim.
He said from his observation, hotels which could be the link between craft products and tourism, seldom used or promoted Malaysian handicraft.
Rais was speaking to reporters after the National Craft Institute’s (IKN) 10th Convocation ceremony, here, today where 96 graduands received their diplomas and 58 others, their certificates.
He said the time had come for IKN and the industry players to liaise with hotels to promote Malaysian handicraft.
“It’s up to IKN to decide what they should be promoting and how they’re going to do it. Show them (hotels) what we have. If it’s rattan furniture, it should be promoted to the Malaysian Hotels Association and ask the hotels why such furniture is not being used.
“It’s the same for our timber furniture and ceramics,” he said while referring to the handicraft products on display at the exhibition at IKN today.
Rais said he also wanted to see more products like wood carvings, textiles and items made from bamboo and stones being created.
He said stone carvings had high commercial value, with only the stone carvings from Bali known internationally and used as decorative pieces in and outside homes.
“Malaysian batik can go far although facing stiff competition from batik produced in Indonesia and China. It’s a normal challenge, but look at the Italian textiles; they are still impressive and in demand although having to compete with the London and New York fashion markets.”
Rais said lack of the right marketing strategies for Malaysian handicraft could result in such products like the unique local wood carvings to remain relatively unknown although these were better than those produced in Jepara, Central Java, also known as Indonesia’s wood carving capital.
Source: Bern
Hi, I for one would very much like to promote Malaysia Arts and Crafts. For us, Malaysian that live abroad have done well on introduced and promoted Malaysian food., but not with others great stuffs that Malaysia get to offer.
ReplyDeleteI would appreciate if you can point me to where I could get more info and sources of Malaysian crafts.
Thank you
James Kang