KOTA MARUDU: More people are getting into the small handicraft business due to the rising cost of living and difficulty in finding jobs.
Sobri said the idea was inspired by his aunt who is in the handicraft making business earlier than him in Beaufort.
“I take a day to produce ten to 20 pots, coloured and fitted with ropes,” he told Daily Express.
“This is my first step in the field of business, and I will expand and look for other ideas for improvement and produce other items.”
The cute, unique and durable pots sell at RM5 each.
Sokindoi Marasun, a 37-year-old maker of “sesaban” or wooden cutting boards, started her small venture in 2014 when she found herself jobless and needing to support her two children.
The idea of making cutting boards came at an instance to her and her husband and later sell them at a nearby Sunday tamu.
According to Sokindoi, her husband acquired wood from the forest or from villagers who had the trees in their orchard to be processed into sesaban.
Muhammad Sobri, a 26 year-old from Beaufort, had to find a source of income as he was not able to find a job to support his wife and two children.
Sobri, who just started trading in February 2019, was delighted to produce flower pots made of coconut shells because such activity is his hobby and generates revenue.
She said the cutting boards are made of kalipapa or bogil wood as it is called by the Dusun people and are durable, light and do not splinter when used.
Every Sunday, Sokindoi takes about 20 to 30 pieces to the tamu and makes about RM50 to RM80, or RM150 during the festive season.
A rattan handicraft is also an attraction at the tamu made by the Tandek Dusun Association and sold by Hamidah or Helyn, 60.
Usually visitors come from outside the district but some are from far away to get the handicraft goods to whole-sale elsewhere.
Among the handicrafts produced by the association are the traditional paddy winnowing fans, berait, baskets and fish traps.
About 10 members of the association make the rattan products in Bukit Tandek and Helyn lamented that it is increasingly difficult to obtain rattan as it has diminished and available further away in the forest.
“Usually it takes us two days to gather rattan from the forest, the journey to reach the area alone takes one day and we have to spend the night in the woods,” she said.
“The challenges we face include the threat of wild beasts, leeches during the rainy season and getting lost, but we have to keep on going on to make a living and meet market demand.”
According to Helyn, the price of each item ranges from RM3 to RM150 and weekly sales are from RM500 to RM1,000.
She added that the items are usually acquired by regular customers from Ranau, Kota Kinabalu, Kudat, Keningau, and Kota Belud, besides by foreigners such as Burmese.
The mother of six grown-up children said she had been selling rattan goods since 2012 and it is their main source of income since her husband retired.
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