KUALA TERENGGANU: Wearing traditional batik attire not only adds to Cheong Suh Ling’s charm, but it also serves as a symbol of inter-racial unity, which helps her nurture the spirit of nationalism within herself.
The teacher, affectionately referred to by her students as “Cikgu Darling”, stated that she adores wearing traditional batik clothing like the Baju Kedah and the Baju Kurung because of their beautiful designs and the fact that they are suitable for people of all races.
“More importantly, batik is a national heritage and a symbol of identity for Malaysia’s multiracial society.
“I am also familiar with batik, as I am from Terengganu. Before I wore batik myself, I liked to see other people wearing it because it is so beautiful,” she told Bernama when met at Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Cina) Chung Hwa Wei Sin here today.
She said that after wearing a Baju Kurung batik for the first time, she fell in love with it since not only was the pattern unique, but the material was also comfortable to wear in hot weather.
According to Cikgu Darling, she now has several sets of batik clothing that she bought, some of which she received from her Malay friends.
The teacher said that she felt more enthusiastic to wear batik now that the government has made it compulsory for civil servants to wear batik every Thursday.
“Wearing batik attire on the first Thursday of every month is already a practice at our school. Our batik clothes are sponsored by a batik vendor in Kampung Cina.
“We have 55 Chinese teachers, seven Malay teachers and one Indian teacher here. They all like batik and will exchange ideas when someone wants to buy batik,” said Cikgu Darling, who teaches Science and Chinese language.
Yeo Fei Hong, the Bahasa Melayu teacher at the same school, described the wearing of batik as a symbol of unity and racial harmony among the school staff.
Yeo added that she herself also owns several collections of baju kurung and traditional cheongsams with batik motifs.
Meanwhile, Cikgu Darling’s interest in batik also prompted her to enter the “Sekolah Kesayangan Noor Arfa” competition, where she won the grand prize of 50 pairs of batik textiles to be distributed to her fellow colleagues at the school.
Noor Arfa Holdings Sdn Bhd branding executive Wan Farhana Wan Tazilah said she was excited to learn that a non-Malay contestant had won the competition, which was to find 100 people to take part in a batik survey.
“We are excited because the first winner is a Chinese school teacher. We hope this will inspire more people of different races to wear batik.
“The competition is also held in response to the government’s call to raise the dignity of batik as a national heritage that can be worn by individuals of all races,” she said. – BERNAMA
