Iban Women Charitable Trust gets RM100k boost to take handicrafts from longhouses to global markets

By Dayangku Hidayatul

KUCHING, Aug 15: Sarawak is looking beyond preservation for its traditional handicrafts, with a RM100,000 boost for the Iban Women Charitable Trust (IWCT) to help take products from Iban longhouses to the global market.

The funding comprises RM20,000 from Deputy Minister in the Premier’s Department (Law and Native Customs) Datuk Jefferson Jamit, RM30,000 from Works Minister Dato Sri Alexander Nanta Linggi, and RM50,000 from Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.

Uggah said the funding would support IWCT’s efforts to preserve Iban handicrafts while creating greater economic opportunities for artisans.

“Our challenge is no longer about preserving them alone, but on how to compete on the international level,” he said while officiating the prize-giving ceremony of the IWCT Handicraft Competition 2025/2026 at a hotel here today.

Uggah said he hoped the next IWCT prize-giving ceremony would feature global fashion players to help transform traditional handicrafts into products that could reach international markets.

“I hope in the next prize-giving ceremony, the committee will invite a fashion house or a fashion designer to be with us here, to help us develop all those products into sub-products that can be marketed globally,” he said.

He said Sarawak’s handicrafts could enter international museums, premium lifestyle brands, luxury hotels, fashion houses, cultural festivals, and design exhibitions.

“Creative industries, including handicrafts, traditional textiles, performing arts, cultural tourism, digital content, and heritage-based enterprises, have enormous potential to generate employment, create entrepreneurs, attract investment and strengthen rural economies,” he said.

Uggah added that handicrafts could provide entrepreneurship and household income opportunities, particularly for rural communities and women.

He envisioned ‘Ruai to the World’ as a platform to showcase Iban longhouse creativity globally, saying Sarawak has the talent, originality, and cultural richness to compete on the international stage.

However, he said the industry must address challenges including production costs, quality control, sourcing of natural materials, market access, and product diversification.

He said artisans must invest in professional training, product certification, design development, and quality assurance to position Sarawak handicrafts as premium products.

Uggah also urged greater use of digital marketing, international trade fairs, and e-commerce platforms to expand market access.

He said traditional designs such as Pua Kumbu motifs, beadwork, and indigenous patterns could inspire fashion, interior décor, hospitality products, luxury gifts, jewellery, and contemporary lifestyle products.

“Tradition must remain authentic, but it should also evolve to meet contemporary market demands. Innovation should respect tradition. But innovation is also essential if tradition is to remain relevant,” he said.

Meanwhile, Uggah urged young Sarawakians to see handicrafts not as something belonging only to the past, but as opportunities for the future.

“See them as opportunities for the future. Master the traditional skills inherited from your parents and grandparents,” he said.

Uggah said young people must be equally comfortable working with traditional looms and modern digital platforms, building skills in entrepreneurship, branding, product design, and international marketing alongside traditional craftsmanship.

He said combining traditional skills with modern knowledge would help preserve Iban cultural heritage while creating new economic opportunities.

Meanwhile, IWCT chairman Dato Sri Empiang Jabu said preserving traditional arts was an intergenerational responsibility, as these crafts carried the identity and spirit of the Iban community.

“These traditional arts are not silent monuments of forgotten time. They are vibrant, living gifts that we are bound to love and have a duty to guard and pass forward to the next generation and future generations,” she said. — DayakDaily

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