Much ado about Batik
Mum called yesterday, perplexed, posing the millionaire dollar question of the week: "What is the definition of Malaysian batik?"Well...to cut a long story short, there has been a recent circular declaring it compulsory for all teachers in the country to parade Malaysian batik on school corridors on the 1st and 15th of every month. Nevermind that most Malaysian teachers are made to work like mules and yet are not paid a high salary, nevermind that batik can cost an arm and leg, nevermind all that....because Malaysia Boleh!
Not only has there been no mention of an allowance to aid teachers afford such luxurious clothes, matters were made worse when mum's boss turned into a discerning batik connoisseur overnight.
Although it had been internally agreed that the first official batik catwalk in school would be scheduled after the school holidays, many enthusiastic colleagues had proudly donned the gems they had scrambled all over the island to procure/ tailor in voluntary compliance with the new ruling. Their glee, however, was shortlived....apparently only one individual out of the thirty teachers-turned-models-of-malaysian-craft had bought the correct batik...more precisely: Malaysian batik. The rest were curtly told to go do some more shopping.
Apparently, not all batik made in Malaysia (be it in Langkawi, Terengannu or Kelantan) is necessarily Malaysian batik.
For example, this is not Malaysian batik:
nor are these:
or cool as it is, this:
munsta ramblings @ 5:52 pm
2 Comments:
Munsta, I don't have a definition per se, but i do have some nice pictures of authentic SARAWAK batik if you'd like to take a look.
Oh that's a surprise! I knew about puas and other stuff but didn't realise s'wak did batik as well! I so need to go cuti-cuti m'sia! :)
Post a Comment
<< Home