Taufiq
KOTA KINABALU: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) organized a batik programme dubbed ‘Melestarikan Batik Warna Alam’ which means ‘Preserving Batik with Natural Colours’.
The programme was made possible following a grant of RM20,000 from the UNESCO Malaysia National Commission (SKUM).
The hybrid workshop was one of the university’s efforts to bring knowledge and the classroom to the community where their students live in.
The programme’s aim was to help the community of local crafters who are involved in the batik craft and improve their economic status, especially during the Movement Control Order (MCO) which has been put in place to stop the spread of Covid-19.
The workshop was also part of the university’s train and guide series that has been absorbed in its teaching and learning activities (PdP) for its students that has been implemented since 2019.
UMS vice chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Taufiq Yap Yun Hin said that the workshop was jointly organized by the Science Social and Humanities faculty and Arts and Creative Technology Academy (ASTiF).
“Realising the wealth of Sabah’s flora resources, the workshop is carried out to develop human capital and preserve batik art through the cooperation of lecturers and students who take part in the batik course from the Visual Art Technology Programme, higher learning institutes’ students, industry players and the community.
The duration of the workshop was 14 days.
The theory class was conducted online and involved lecturers from UMS, Universiti Teknologi MARA from the Kelantan branch, Universiti College Sabah Foundation (UCSF), Pusat Kraftangan Malaysia (Sabah branch) and eco-print batik industry players.
Taufiq said this at the closing ceremony of the workshop which was held online at the UMS Facebook official page.
Practical activities were implemented where the students lived with members of the community and they were given tasks to guide the members of their community to create eco-print batik using natural resources that are available at their respective environment.
“The Eco-print batik or Alami batik is a technique of creating batik using plants such as leaves, tree bark and the roots of trees since the colours generated is environmentally friendly if compared to colours created using chemical based ingredients,” he said.
He added that the batik motives are created by arranging the leaves on the fabric before rolling and tying it neatly for two long hours of boiling.
Taufiq believed that the knowledge from the workshop is able to help the community with their economy during the enforcement of MCO.
Performances included a Pinakang dance by ASTiF lecturer, Victor Pagayan, a duet by ASTif lecturer, Andrew Poniting and his daughter, Ari Acha Andrew, as well as singing by a music student in the ASTiF music programme, Maya Hejnowska, who is also the winner of the State-level Unduk Ngadau 2021 contest.