‘BAZAR KRAF AIDILFITRI’ FOCUSES ON LOCAL BATIK, SONGKET AND HANDICRAFTS

KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 (Bernama) --The Bazar Kraf Aidilfitri 2025, which runs for 10 days starting today at the Kuala Lumpur Craft Complex in Jalan Conlay, features works by local batik entrepreneurs and songket weavers, as well as handicraft items such as woven bags, dokoh (traditional necklace of three pendants or brooches), and handmade beads as attire to celebrate the festive season.

Terengganu Batik Entrepreneurs Association secretary Nurul Hamizah Deraman said that the bazaar, which involves 80 entrepreneurs, not only includes entrepreneurs from Terengganu but also those from Sabah, Sarawak, Pahang, Negeri Sembilan and Perlis.

Nurul Hamizah, who is also a batik and silk entrepreneur, said the organisation of the bazaar involves entrepreneurs registered with Kraftangan Malaysia thus ensuring that visitors purchase authentic local handicraft products.

"With this event, we want to market our products in Kuala Lumpur… (based on) the organisation of previous events, batik sales can reach RM40,000 to RM80,000 in sales value. We hope that with the organisation of this event, we can achieve such sales for one entrepreneur.

"We do not set targets but we try our best... we don't know the reason (the National Craft Day Expo 2025 was postponed), but we as entrepreneurs are trying to find alternatives to market our products in Kuala Lumpur," said Nurul Hamizah.

Nurul Hamizah said that the organisation of this bazaar could also help promote local handicrafts to the world, in conjunction with Malaysia's ASEAN chairmanship in 2025.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Traditional Textile Lovers Association (CITRA) committee member and Terengganu songket entrepreneur Luqman Al-Hakim Ariffin Billah said that the organisation of Bazar Kraf Aidilfitri is aimed at raising awareness and attracting public interest in the local textile heritage.

He said that through the Bazar Kraf Aidilfitri, the community can be educated on the value of the fine craftsmanship of authentic songket weaving, thereby instilling an appreciation of local handmade art, considering that the marketed products are guaranteed to be authentic.

"We hope more visitors will come to support by buying the traders' handicrafts.

"We also hope that the original woven songket will receive more attention because we are competing with the external market, such as machine-made songket," he said, adding that in the modern era, the use of machines to produce songket does replace human labour, but we as traders do not complain," he also said.

He added that songket sellers also need to be honest with customers and ethical by stating whether they are selling machine-made songket products or not authentic handwoven songket, while offering reasonable prices.

-- BERNAMA