The 44-year-old engineering diploma holder started small in this business of making the traditional musical instruments in Parit Sumarto, Parit Raja, here.
His eldest brother had taken over their father’s business of over 44 years at a workshop in Kampung Tonjos, Pekan Jabi, in Segamat.
Mokhtar, who works with a university here, is happy that the products of his handiwork are now marketed all over the country and there are even orders from other countries like Indonesia and Singapore.
“After getting off from work at the university, I would head to the workshop to make 15 kompangs a day with the help of three workers whom I had trained,” he said.
Mokhtar said the process of making the kompang is closely linked to engineering, especially with regard to the design and use of technology, as for example in the lathes used to produce the kompang frame as well as the sound-measuring devices.
“The loudness of the sound must be measured so that the kompang beat produced is not dissonant but melodious and harmonious to the ear.”
He said wood of the Vitex pubescens species is cut round and the kompang frame is derived with the use of a lathe while goat hide is scraped and dried for three to four hours before it is nailed to the finished frame.
The kompangs produced by Mokhtar come in sizes of between 6-14 inches (15-35cm) in diameter and are sold at prices ranging from RM15 to RM85 a piece.
Mokhtar, who holds a diploma in mechanical engineering from the Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Politeknik in Kuantan, Pahang, said the imposition of the movement control order (MCO) on March 18 last year forced him to stop the business for about six weeks.
“However, during that period, we came up with new ideas and produced kompang of six and seven inches in diameter. Thankfully, many people wanted them,” he said.
Mokhtar said his 18-year-old son, Muhammad Haziq Hazlami, has taken an interest in making the kompang and would help him after returning from school. The teenager has also joined the school kompang club and represented the school in kompang competitions.
“Although I aspire to be an engineer, I want to make the kompang like my father and grandfather because it is a national treasure,” said Haziq, the second of four siblings.