By Nur Rafiqah Mohamad Razi & Nur Syafiqah Ahmad Radhuan
KOTA BHARU (Kelantan, Malaysia), May 24 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysians are showing solidarity with Palestinians in many ways, and in Kampung Salor here, a batik maker is selling batik Palestinian flags, utilising Kelantan’s exclusive batik techniques.
Yuslinawati Othman, 42, together with her husband Wan Ahmad Wan Hassan, 51, and their cousin, Wan Hafizul Wan Johari, 32, have made almost 300 pieces of the country’s flag since a week ago. Batik is Malaysian traditional fabric made by using a manual wax-resist dyeing technique.
Speaking to Bernama, Yuslinawati said initially, the flags were made only for fellow villagers. However, after uploading their work on Facebook and Instagram, orders began pouring in.
“The Palestinian flag is made using cotton-based cloth, which is of similar material to the batik. The price for each flag is different according to the size wanted by customers, which starts as low as RM24 for the 3×5 feet piece to RM90 for the largest size of 6×10 feet.
“For each flag sold, we only take the cost for the cloth, the rest, about RM5 to RM10, will be channeled into funds for Palestine,” said Yuslinawati who has 25 years of experience in batik making.
She said the batik Palestinian flags receive encouraging demand not only from local customers but also from Brunei.
“Besides Malaysians, we also receive orders from the people of Brunei. Not just flags, they also order shawls carrying Palestine colours.
“Although the delivery cost is pricey which is around RM50, they are willing to pay to help with the Palestinian struggle,” she said.
Meanwhile, Wan Hafizul said the process of making each flag is not easy as it takes two to three days for it to be completed which includes several complicated steps.
“To finish one flag there are several processes needed to be done such as ‘canting’ (hand-drawn) on a white cloth, then dyeing the cloth before boiling it to make the colours stick.
“During sunny weather, we can complete up to 50 pieces a day, because we use quick-dry material,” said Wan Hafizul.
Kelantan is an east coast state of Malaysia.
— NNN-BERNAMA