The Star Online: Metro: South & East
The Star Online: Metro: South & East |
| Posted: 09 Aug 2011 09:40 PM PDT SONGKOK-MAKER Ismail Jushi had wanted to be a policeman. After completing his secondary school education, he attended a walk-in interview at the Batu Pahat Police station to pursue his ambition. However, he failed to enter the force as he fell short of the minimum physical requirements. "I've tried holding my breath for few minutes during the measuring in order to expand my chest, but still failed the test," he quipped during an interview with StarMetro. Knowing that it was not the end of the world, he had decided to assist his father in making songkok. Ismail's late father Jushi Said came from Sumatra, Indonesia and started the trade some 40 years ago at Pasar Melayu, Jalan Ibrahim in Batu Pahat, Johor. The shop with the owner's namesake is the only one outlet in Batu Pahat making the traditional headgear and Ismail is probably the only songkok maker continuing the dying trade in the district since 1984. Ready-made songkoks are neatly stacked in the mirrored shelves with their sizes being displayed on a small piece of manila card and some are kept in the champagne coloured oval boxes or rectangular blue boxes, bearing the brand name Songkok Warisan. "I started as an apprentice making the inner frame for over six months before my father trusted me to start making the songkoks," he said. The songkok maker was busy making the headwear for the coming Hari Raya Aidilfitri is August assisted by his wife Ani Akashah, 45. The process of making a songkok starts with the inner frame which is made from 18 layers comprising old newspaper pagers stitched together with a layer of blue satin. This is later cut into an oval shape for the top, according to head size, while a long rectangular piece of the same material is used to form the wall or sides of the songkok. Malaysian-made songkoks carry the distinct pattern of a lozenge with flower-like ornament in the middle, sewn in yellow and red threads. "Joining the oval top and the surrounding rim of the wall is a delicate process and the finished songkok must be able to 'stand steadily' on a flat surface before it could fit nicely on one's head," he said. Ismail added the two must be fitted perfectly and sewn carefully on a machine so that the final songkok would look and feel smooth and seamless. He said the frame which should by now resemble a paper songkok would then be covered with smooth, soft velvet, usually black and navy blue velvet known as the 'Crown' velvet imported from South Korea. The velvet for the oval top is sewn directly on it, while the fabric for the walls – reinforced by a piece of cardboard for shape – is slipped over like a shirt, stretched taut and then stitched to the frame. Songkoks come in the standard rim sizes of between 54.61cm and 58.77cm but Ismail said there were some customers having heads bigger than size 23. Ismail also makes songkoks of that are taller than the regular height of three inches (7.62cm), usually 4.5 inches (11.43cm) to 5.5 inches (13.97cm) known as Songkok Tinggi Johor (tall songkok). "Songkok Tinggi is unique to Johor and popular with Johor Malays who usually wear it with Baju Melayu Telok Blangah which is also synonymous to Johor," he said. The general shape of the songkok has stayed the same for the past century – the flat top version is known as Songkok Sukarno after the former Indonesian president or Songkok Jawa. Another type Songkok Melayu is slopping in the middle while jutting upwards at the sides, it is popular with Malays in Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
| Posted: 09 Aug 2011 06:48 PM PDT THE Telekom Malaysia Earth camp made its round in Taman Negara Endau-Rompin, Johor recently. It was the event's fifth of six stops. Carrying the theme 'water', this edition of the TM Earth Camp saw the participation of 100 students from 27 schools around Johor, Melaka and Negeri Sembilan, including three TM staff children as well as eight from the company's adopted school. Accompanied by 19 teachers and 10 TM volunteers, the three-day two-night programme was held at the Endau-Rompin Eco Camp within the Nature Education and Research Centre (NERC) in Kampong Peta, Mersing, Johor. On the first day, the participants attended a talk by the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) on the tropical rainforest. They were also given an interesting explanation on bio-safety and biotechnology engineering. The participants were also given the first hand experience and played the scientist role by extracting the DNA from an onion to further understand what a DNA is and how it looks like. In the evening, the participants were taken for a night walk in the jungle stepping into the fascinating world of nocturnal creatures that were busy living their night life. The jungle of Endau-Rompin is around 250 million years old — making it the world's oldest tropical rainforest — older than the Congo and the Amazon! The participants also learnt that dusk is the peak hour for jungle inhabitants such as red spiders, giant ants, insects camouflaging as dry leaves, fireflies, scorpions, crickets and other nocturnals come out while the day creatures call it a day. Keeping to the theme of the camp, the Earth Camp participants were taken to Jeti Pacau, Kuala Jasin by boat the following day where they were taken for an adventure-packed day which includes crossing not one, but four rivers. From Kuala Jasin, participants trekked to Kuala Marong and crossed Sungai Endau. They were thrilled to come across among others, elephant footprints during their trek. On the final day of the camp, the participants walked to Kampung Peta – an Orang Asli village where the Jakun tribe resides — to gain an insight into their lifestyle and culture. The Southern edition of TM's Earth Camp ended with a closing ceremony that attended by the company's Johor General Manager Mohd Roslan Mohd Rashidi, MNS President Associate Professor Dr. Maketab Mohamed and MNS head of Environmental Education Unit I.S. Shanmugaraj. The last leg of the TM Earth Camp would be held in Permai Rainforest Resort, Kuching, Sarawak. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
| Posted: 09 Aug 2011 06:44 PM PDT THE palm sugar, also known as gula melaka, is synonymous with the Malay traditional cooking. But apart from being the main ingredient in delicacies like sweet porridge, cendol and traditional cakes, it can also be used for reducing cough during common cold by having a mixture of sugar and tamarind juice. The palm sugar is also beneficial in lowering the body temperature by consuming it in water. Malacca's palm sugar entrepreneur Ideris Zainudin said making palm sugar is a delicate and time-consuming process. The tapping is done through an incision, made on the young coconut shoot. A cylindrical container is tied to the shoot to collect the colourless sap that flows out of the incision. "The sap collected needs to be processed fast to prevent its fermentation. If fermentation happens, the sap will taste sour," he said. Processing of the sap, through boiling, takes some five to six hours. During the processing, heat from the fire should be controlled to prevent the sap from getting burnt, Ideris added. After five to six hours, the boiled sap turns thick and dark brown in colour. At this stage, the molten palm sugar is poured into bamboo moulds and left to cool. The molten sugar usually cools down in five minutes and hardens. Ideris, who has been in the business for 36 years, said the palm sugar tastes sweet and is creamier than the normal sugar, which is only sweet. Among the palm sugar makers who market their products nation-wide, Ideris has also diversified his trade, by making other traditional food items such as dodol (that uses a lot of palm sugar) as well as cencaluk (shrimp paste which can be consumed with rice) at his house in Kampung Kandang near here. His business venture is called 'Perniagaan Hj.Ideris' and markets the products under the label 'Haji Ideris'. Ideris began as a petty trader at Padang Pahlawan in Bandar Hilir here at the age of 15. Now he earns about RM6,000-8,000 per month and his products are available at the hypermarkets. "With only RM500, I began selling ice blocks and received RM200 per day," he said. Now his dodol has created a niche market abroad, like in Singapore, Australia and West Asian nations. Ideris also introduced the '3-in-1 cencaluk', which can be consumed instantly without adding chili, onions and limejuice. He said the idea for the instant cencaluk came from requests by consumers who wanted a cencaluk, which could be consumed straight from the bottle, without adding extra additives and flavour. The instant cencaluk is ideal for those people who are always busy, he noted and added that the material can last for three months if stored properly. – Bernama Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
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