Twenty-two-year-old Nur Aina Balkhis Zumri, from Kota Bharu, Kelantan, decided to weather this difficult time by saving her father’s batik-wear business. The Movement Control Orders (MCOs) had crippled Wakaf Che Yeh, the company founded by her 61-year-old dad, Zumri Hassan, over four decades ago.
“My father has been working as a batik trader since the 1980s on a small scale by procuring his batik supply from Indonesia,” she told Bernama.
“Around 1990, he expanded his business by opening a physical store and, eight years later, began producing his own kaftan batik under the label Mutiara Batik. My father would fully hand-paint the batik pieces with the help of three workers.”
Three years ago, the company hit dire straits when hundreds of kaftan batik pieces, ordered ahead of Hari Raya Aidilfitri, were left unsold after lockdowns came into effect.
“I decided to help my father by selling his merchandise on Facebook,” she said. “I worked up the courage to do live presentations daily on the platform and, to my surprise, the items sold out in under three months.”
Orders were not limited to Kelantan alone but came from across Malaysia, neighbouring Singapore, and countries as far as Mauritius.
Own label
Encouraged by her efforts, Zumri suggested that Aina – who holds a diploma in science from Universiti Teknologi Mara Tapah – take over the business.
“I did not have much confidence at first, but I could feel that business was in my blood, so I decided to take up the challenge and preserve his legacy,” she said.
To that end, she began learning the art of kaftan batik-making – from canting (applying wax) and colouring to marketing the product.
Aina, who is the fifth of eight siblings, said she found managing the company to be “very satisfying”, and eventually decided to give it a new lease of life by diversifying the collection.
“Besides basic kaftan, we now also offer batwing, pario, plus-size, and long and short-sleeved kaftans, as well as those embellished with stones,” she said.
She also began marketing these products under a new label, Aina Balkish.Co – using her own name as part of the brand “to see how far I could go in this field”.
Batik evolution
Kaftan, which is made of cotton, is a popular choice among women as it is a very comfortable fabric. “Previously, kaftan or ‘baju kelawar’ was associated with ‘wanita kampung’, given that nightwear such as the sleeveless kaftan would usually be worn at home by women,” Aina explained.
Now, she has made the kaftan a more trendy option by introducing ready-to-wear designs suitable for casual and formal occasions such as special dinners, office gatherings, and wedding receptions.
The items have also been given a modern touch with vibrant new designs and colour combinations. “Besides the abstract and floral batik originally produced by my father, we now have pastel and bright colours to attract younger women,” she said.
“We also produce cute designs based on cartoon characters such as Hello Kitty and Mickey Mouse, food motifs such as doughnuts and cupcakes, as well as butterflies.” These, she added, are bestselling items that appeal to the younger generation.
Despite stiff competition from other kaftan traders, Aina is optimistic and proud of her achievements, noting that, on average, she is able to sell 1,000 kaftan batik pieces in a month through social media.
“A piece of kaftan is sold between RM30 and RM300 depending on the design, cutting and pattern, and we produce 20 to 30 pieces a day,” she said, adding that the most difficult motif to craft is the traditional floral design.
The business is primarily home-based, with the exception of the canting and colouring processes, which are done at a small factory in Kota Bahru with the support of three batik artists and one worker who sews.
As for the future, “God willing, I hope to expand the business with additional staff, new premises to sell and exhibit our products, as well as a manufacturing factory to produce our batik in large quantities”, Aina concluded.