Unissa poll : Tourists Splurge On Handicrafts, BATIK

A woman weaving. A poll says handicrafts and batik are among the popular purchases of tourists visiting Brunei. Picture: BT file

HANDICRAFTS and batik were the two most popular purchases that tourists make in Brunei, according to a study conducted by scholars at the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences, Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University (Unissa).

The study, conducted by Dr Mohamed Sharif Bashir, dean of the faculty and colleague Hjh Nur Annisa Hj Sarbini, showed an increase of $10 million in tourist expenditure last year from $475.5 million in 2008.

In 2009, tourist spendings in Brunei amounted to $485.3 million, based on figures from the World Travel and Tourism Council.

The study was conducted last year to identify the spending patterns of tourists in the Sultanate.

"We wanted to do this study because Brunei has plans to diversify the economy away from oil and gas and tourism is slated to be one of the industries to help this diversification," said Dr Mohamed, in an interview on the sidelines of the recent International Islamic Conference organised by Unissa.

He added that his findings provided a general overview of the Brunei tourism sector. It sought to examine factors to improve Brunei's tourism sector, investigate tourists' profile and their expenditures in Brunei to help provide policymakers with information to implement more adequate and integrated policies in the specific segmented markets.

A questionnaire survey was given to 120 respondents in June last year in different locations in Bandar Seri Begawan, including hotels and shopping complexes in the capital.

"We found that in general, the tourists, were made up of females, between 20 and 30 years old, and that almost 29 per cent of them were Malaysians. The findings also showed that 86.8 per cent of the tourists recommended Brunei as a tourist destination," said Dr Mohamed.

Survey respondents were visitors who made their own travel arrangements and were accompanied by their friends.

Based on the gender profile of the study, it showed that 52 per cent were female and 48 per cent were male. Tourists from Singapore, Indonesia, Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom also took part in the survey.

"Major items that were purchased was handicrafts, which was 45 per cent of the tourists surveyed, followed by batik, which accounts for 39 per cent of the respondents," he said. In the paper, titled "Study on Tourists Expenditures Pattern in Brunei Darussalam", the scholars showed that jewellery such as watches and gold, as well as computer and electronic appliances, also grabbed the interests of respondents.

The paper also said that 60 per cent of the respondents said the major attraction for picking Brunei as a tourist destination was because of its "safe environment", as well as the curiosity to find out more about the Sultanate, due to word of mouth from friends and families who have previously visited.

Respondents also recommended improving shopping facilities and public transportation system. 

"Another potential area to be developed is cultural events and more attractive activities for tourists, as many of them said that without these amenities, they wouldn't return to Brunei, so there needs to be a reason for these tourists to want to come back a second time," he said.

The dean also found that Brunei could establish a national brand identity, which could be based on the cultural and heritage background of Brunei. "What uniquely constitutes Brunei, must be promoted to keep the inbound visitors coming, and it also needs to improve many attractions including shopping complexes, transportation and hotel facilities," said the report.

"Although there are about 40 licenced travel agencies in Brunei, only a handful were actively engaged in inbound ground handling operations for foreign tourists, while most licenced travel agencies deal in ticketing and outbound travel," stated the paper. He said that the lack of competition in the inbound tourism sector is limited and has led to the aggressive promotional efforts by the Brunei Tourism Development Department of the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources. 

"It is without a doubt that Brunei Tourism is targeting the upmarket, discerning and mature segments in the tourist source markets such as Southeast Asian countries like Singapore and Malaysia, have positioned themselves to be a destination for ecotourism, relaxation, wholesome family trips, honeymoons, golfing, and even for stop-over programmes," said the study.

The authors concluded that "policymakers should give more emphasis on the development of the infrastructure including transportation, financial services, hotels and restaurants, entertainment and travelling facilities, such as the ones provided by the Immigration Department for facilitating the tourists' arrival". The paper also suggested the the private sector should play a role in participating to promote tourism activities, as it could bring benefits in terms of generating employment opportunities and increasing incomes, as well as "expanding the production capacity of the small and medium enterprises". The Brunei Times

source :
http://www.bt.com.bn/business-national/2010/03/06/tourists-splurge-handicrafts-batik-unissa-poll

Here's The User Guide and Tool Kit; Go Get Started Batik Chanting

BELOW is how to making batik in five steps:

Step one:

i) A piece of natural fiber cloth (100 per cent cotton or silk recommended).

ii) Paraffin wax (You can melt down candles).

iii) Cold water dyes, kind of a specialty, ask at your fabric store, (I use Dylon Cold Water, the stuff you use for tie dyes).

iv) A pot that can get messy, and a can or jar in which to melt down the wax.

v) An Idea of what you want to sketch on paper.

Step two:

i) Figure out what colours you want and where, this is elaborate, you probably want to start with something simple, just a few colours.

ii) Stretch out your fabric on a frame, you can just cut up a piece of cardboard and duct tape it together.

iii) If you like you can sketch lightly in pencil directly on the fabric your idea, (careful, don't make it too dark, especially if you use light colours, you can see the sketch through the dyes).

iv) Put your jar or can full of wax into a pot of water and boil the water, the wax will melt, be careful to keep the water topped up outside of the jar.

Step three:

i) Assuming you have white in your batik, this will be where you wax first, using a paint brush, brush wax only in the area you want to keep white.

ii) Once the first layer of wax is applied, soak the whole piece of fabric in your lightest colour, (yellow, pink, orange,) until it is as dark as you want it, then hang it to dry.

iii)You do not have to soak your fabric, you may choose to brush or pour the dye on it, but soaking let the cloth absorb colour well.

iv) If you have no white, you will want to dye (or brush) your cloth first in the lightest colour(s) you will ultimately want to see.

This image is poor, but if you look closely, you'll see waxed over white spots in the yellow, (the dye will not set in the cloth where the wax is).

v) Wait for it to dry completely, this art entails a lot of patience.

Step four:

i) Now we just layer on colours, begin with the lightest shades. If your first colour was yellow, you wax over the places where you wish the yellow to remain.

ii) Once waxed, apply the next colour, be it orange, pink, alight green. You will find that some colours mix with previous ones and some cover them up quite well, it's all trial and error really. Also note, the length of time you allow the fabric to dye will darken the colour.

iii) You may wish to brush colours on with a paintbrush. Note in the example, It is dabbed different colours in different places on the cloth, this allows more variety.

Once the dye has dried, wax over the part which you want to remain that colour and continue layering with darker colours.

Note: once you make it dark, you can't make it lighter again, so be sure to go through from all the lighter colours to darker ones.

Very important: Always dry the fabric completely before adding the next layer of wax, if the fabric does not dry completely, the wax will not set and the next dyes will bleed in under the wax. 

If you like the crumpling bled look (picture on top right) crumple the fabric as you dunk it in the dye, this will create random seams in the wax where dye may seep in. If you don't like it, Don't fold or crumple your fabric at all and be very careful that your wax seeps into the fabric completely.

Step five: When you finish the design with waxing and dyeing, and all the dye is dried well (this take a few days), boil a container of water and soak the cloth in it to remove the wax. To remove wax further, place the Batik between sheets of newspaper and iron the newspaper.

The wax will seep out of the batik and into the paper. Change the paper frequently and try to get all of the wax out.

source :
http://www.bt.com.bn/features/2009/08/07/heres_the_user_guide_and_tool_kit_go_get_started

Local Products at ASEAN exhibition

AN ASEAN handicraft and food exhibition catered to local and foreign small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is currently being held at the Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah complex, aimed at promoting wider business opportunities for local and foreign entrepreneurs.

Visitors to the exhibition will be in for a treat as local and foreign products are displayed by SMEs from Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Brunei, showcasing various handicrafts, textiles, souvenirs, food and confectionaries.

Brunei Local entrepreneur, Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim said the exhibition also encourages SMEs to be more productive in marketing their products and enables them to be more competitive in their profession.

"Handiwork such as songkok and other crafts produced by residents from Kg Ayer creates more employment, strengthening the economy whilst developing the handicraft industry," said Zainal Abidin Hj Ibrahim.

He also thanked the authorities for taking the time and consideration in providing SMEs with low cost rental space and enabling them to conduct their business at a location where most visitors will flock.

Owner of a handicraft business, Hasni Hj Hashim said that some entrepreneurs must learn to provide other forms of revenue for their country through their craft-making abilities. "Opportunities such as low rental rates at the complex provides business advantages for us (vendors) to give affordable prices on local products such as batik and kain jongsarat," she said.

"Our local SMEs have done a good job at producing local products, this comes to show that Bruneians are capable of producing quality products, " said Hjh Rohana Hj Rahim, who was a visitor to the exhibition yesterday.

She said that prices for products were affordable for the local public and tourists as she was informed by vendors that various items on display were given discounts during the special two-week expo.

Mohd Kamil Hj Latip, a youth who was informed of the exhibition by a friend, was captivated with the various products produced by Brunei's craftsmen. "Items such as songkok and kain jongsarat were amongst the local products I was amazed with. I am truly amazed by the quality, design and workmanship of Bruneian handicraft," he said.

A customer checking out the local handicraft on display, Hj Bungsu Hj Yahya said that such events like these will help further boost the local handicraft industry in promoting and giving exposure to local-made products through exhibitions and events.

"The batik and kain jongsarat are some of the products that were on sale, displaying one-of-a-kind designs that will attract locals as well as tourists to buy local-made products," said Hj Bungsu.

The senior citizen also hoped that more exhibitions will be organised by the authorities to help preserve the culture and heritage of Brunei, especially in the area of producing quality handicraft products by the locals.

The ASEAN food and handicraft exhibition began on July 25 and will end on August 5, organised by the Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah complex in support of local and foreign SMEs.

Twelve booths showcasing the best of Southeast Asia's products will be open to the public from 4pm to 10pm at the atrium of the shopping complex. (KAY1)

The Brunei Times
http://www.bt.com.bn/home_news/2009/07/27/local_foreign_products_at_asean_exhibition