During 9th Dec to 12 Dec I went to Malaysia with my family.We spent the 1st day at Genting Theme Park which is fun and chilling. Then for the next two days, we stayed at Kuala Lumpur, the country's legislative capital. Do you know why Kuala Lumpur is called Kuala Lumpur?? Kuala Lumpur actually means muddy confluence of the two rivers,Klang and Gombak. Anyway,I learnt a lot of new things from this trip, mostly about the Muslims' culture because 60% of Malaysia is made up of Muslims, 25% Chinese,10% Hindus and left 5% is other races. But Overall,what interest me the most is the visit to the Batik factory.Batik is a kind of traditional fabric of Malaysia and Indonesia.

We took time to walk around the factory and few assistants there patiently explained to us about the process of making Batik. There are two different type of waxing/designing of the pattern on cloth. The wax is first heated in the Wajan until it is of the desired consistency,the artisan then dip her Canting into the wax to fill the bowl of Canting.The artisan use the Canting to trace the pencil outline on the fabric. This method is very time consuming and it's easy to make mistakes. The other is cap method, the Cap is dipped into the melted wax. The Cap acts like a stamp pad, it is pressed into the fabric until the entire cloth is covered.The Cap method is much faster thus more products can be produced in a much shorter time.It is usually done by men.


Then, the fabric is sent for dyeing. It is dipped into the dye bath. When the desired colour has been achieved and the fabric has dried, wax is reapplied over the areas that the artisan wishes to maintain the first dye colour or another colour at a later stage in the dying process.
An area that has been covered with wax previously needs to be exposed so that it can be dyed, the applied wax is scraped away with a small knife. The area is then sponged with hot water and re-sized with rice starch before it is re-immersed in the subsequent dye bath.

The number of colours in batik represents how many times it was immersed in the dye bath and how many times wax had to be applied and removed. A multicoloured batik represents a lot more work that a single or two-colour piece. Numerous dye processes are usually reflected in the price of the cloth of cause. Nowadays, chemical dyes have pretty much replaced traditional dyes, so colours are endless and much more liberally used.

Here are some pictures of the batik.

I actually bought 1 red batik handkerchief because the batik factory I went is quite different from others. The dye used there all comes from plants and they also showed us how to wear or use batik fabrics. The factory is still hiring workers to make batik instead of using machines to replace man. So each batik is unique and special in its own way.I think batik is one of the unique things in Malaysia. I also learnt that not all things can be replace by technology although technology is very advance now.Everyone should learn and carry forward and appreciate your own culture. Okay, I shall end my post with a short history of Batik.

Batiks origins can be traced back to Asia, India and Africa. Some say the word is of Malay roots and translates "to write" or "to dot".It is said to be an ancient art that has been handed down for thousands of years. Although the exact origins of batik are unknown, it is most common on the island of Java, Indonesia. It is known when the art of batik was first practiced in Java, batik belonged only to royalty and families of wealth and position. It was a hobby for the royal woman. Aristocrats and royalty had certain designs identifying a family, social status or geographical location on the island. Many of these designs have survived to this day. Today it is believed that certain patterns have special meanings and are thought to bring the wearer good luck, wealth, prosperity, health, etc. Currently, batik art has spread to India, China, Malaysia, Europe and Africa. It has become a skill and art of many great cultures. Today it is worn world wide by men and women, and can be seen almost anywhere.