Batik Maker, Export is Capital Intensive

A salesperson arranging the batik on display at Batik Desamas' booth at the Made in Brunei Expo at the Airport Mall recently. Picture: BT/Al-Haadi Abu Bakar

A LOCAL batik textile company is seeking extra funds to expand into the export market after establishing itself here for many years.

Batik Desamas, the firm that has fused tradition with modern technology in its production of batik, is hoping to expand into the export market with additional funding from government sources.

The proprietor of Batik Desamas, Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim, said that he would not be able to meet global demand without additional financial assistance, even though the business has been export-ready for some time.

"The demand is there. The people out there now recognise Brunei's batik as one of the best in the industry, in terms of design," he said in an interview with The Brunei Times.

Batik Desamas is one of the several companies that is taking part in the "Made in Brunei" Expo at the Airport Mall.

Recently, Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim has been experimenting with new fabric, particularly a new type of cotton that has textural qualities akin to silk, and since then has drawn interest from his customers.

In addition, the textile has grabbed a lot of attention from tourists, particularly at its kiosk at Muara Port where international cruises dock.

But, with increased interest comes the challenge of supplying beyond his current capacity, which produces about 300 to 1,000 metres of Batik daily.

A pioneer in Brunei's batik scene, Brunei's Batik Designer, Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim had started hand-printing batik since 2000.

The Batik Designer said his business has been doing well in the local scene following its introduction of his Digital Batik system.

His Batik is well sought-after among participants in events and national occasions, such as the National Day celebration.

The system, developed by Zainal through financial assistance from the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) two years ago, applies advanced software and engineering to digitalise his hand-drawn work, which can then be replicated to produce a whole range of Batik products. 

The new system is aimed to allow mass production of his Batik designs, as traditional method of producing Batik is not enough to meet the global demand.

Production has been outsourced to Indonesia and recently, to South Korea, which according to Zainal, has drawn criticisms from some locals.

"Often, the mindset of Bruneians is that when we say that we outsource our production overseas, they made the assumption that we import our products," he said.

Zainal said he has been actively clarifying the misconception, adding that his approach is more cost-efficient, rather than having the whole business operations entirely in Brunei. In his current capacity, the cost of bringing the production facility to the Sultanate would be very expensive.

"A lot of successful companies out there, such as in America and South Korea, actually outsource their production to countries like China and the Philippines, and then export to the rest of the world," he explained.

He said his business model has a better value proposition than his competitors', which mainly focuses on selling imported Batik, as he has full control of design and production.

Brunei Times
http://www.bt.com.bn/2013/04/15/export-capital-intensive-batik-maker

Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim A Pioneering Digital Batik Artisan

Local batik maker Zainal Abidin checking his batik designs

LOCAL batik maker Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim has made a name for himself when he became one of the few who pioneered into digital batik making. Unlike traditional batik making, digital batik does not require hand-drawing or the molten wax process.

"What was holding back my batik business in the past was the need for batik pattern artists and the ingredients needed to produce the patterns such as candle wax and material. With digital batik I do not need any of these," said Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim.

Zainal assures that digital batik making is the same as the traditional batik-making process where the only difference is the design of patterns via digital technology.

"Once the patterns get printed off, we still need to use the fixing of colours onto the material through a steaming process to ensure the patterns and colour will stay. It is a more commercial and technological process than the traditional one," said Zainal.

At 61 years old Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim is able to master software such as Photoshop Illustrator to come up with his digital batik designs. Zainal comes up with his own designs while he prints and produces them outside of Brunei.

"I can say digital batik has allowed me to bypass the traditional needs of batik making process. It ensured the survival of my batik business," said Zainal.

During the 12-year period in batik business Zainal has learnt that batik designs evolves according to the country where batik thrives. Zainal believes and encourages Bruneians to come up with its own unique batik designs that can be developed through instilling local motives and identities. His batik business has been aspiring to do so.

"Batik is not part of the local tradition but we can come up with our own batik designs with our own identity and values. This is what I am trying to do, offering made-in-Brunei batik," said Zainal.

Zainal realises that it is obvious Brunei would not be able to develop batik at a level which transpires into its culture and tradition such as in Indonesia where batik patterns have been noted to exist since the 12th century or even earlier depending on different sources.

"Indonesia has made batik as part of its tradition. Different patterns are given different names. They have a stock file of their own original designs. Batik is part of the Indonesian tradition which would be very hard to fade," said Zainal.

In 2009, UNESCO designated Indonesian batik as a "Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity".

Zainal underlined the birth of Malaysian batik in the seventies when it was introduced as a form of art in educational institutions like the then Institute Technology Malaysia (ITM) or presently known as MARA University of Technology(UiTM).

It has been contested whether the origins of batik in Malaysia were brought and taught by Indonesia. However when it was introduced to such institutions it was emphasised the batik designs was to be developed based on more Malaysian designs to ensure more original patterns.

"Young Malaysians then were vigorous towards the aim of creating their very own batik where they instilled designs from the villages around Malaysia," said Zainal.

In terms of batik, Malaysians were more innovative in trying to create their own designs.

Zainal is confident that Brunei has the traditional designs that can be incorporated into local batik designs especially with more alternatives. The batik-making process now is more accessible to wider groups of people with the presence of digital batik making. Zainal now produces his batik design through four different processes; the melting wax process, the batik stamping process, the batik screen printing process and the batik digital making process.

The Batik Desa Mas boutique can be found at the Sumbangsih Mulia Building along Jalan Beribi.

The Brunei Times
http://www.bt.com.bn/features/2012/05/13/pioneering-digital-batik-artisan