Newcomers make an impact at batik design competition

KUALA LUMPUR: They were considered newcomers and it was their first time trying out for the Piala Seri Endon Batik Design Competition 2013.

But team Alana Ilham, comprising Nik Intan Zaharah Nik A. Rashid, Lailatul Akma Jaafar and Mohd Hamidi Ahmad Jamili, ended up winners in the fashion category.

Nik Intan said she had been dreaming of winning the award for the past five years as she considered it the ultimate batik competition.

“We are ecstatic. I was in tears when our names were announced. We couldn’t believe what we heard,” she said after receiving the prize during the event at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre yesterday.

She said their batik creation themed Khatrageous was about creating a bridge between the ancient world and the modern world, adding that it was a combination of the word Khat, which is an Islamic calligraphy, and the word outrageous.

“The inspiration came from a duit raya packet that my children received from one of the houses they visited,” she said.

Nik Intan said they did not view the usage of Khat in their designs as taboo although they did foresee that some might view it as controversial.

“From a survey we conducted, many people were receptive to the idea as long we stay away from using the name Allah and Prophet Muhammad,” she said.

There were 93 entries in total for the competition this year.

The winners for the soft furnishing category were Yus Faizal Abdul Rahim and Md Hanafi Md Sukarti under the team name Pieces By Cotton.

Winners for the handicraft category were Kamariah Abdullah and Maini Mohd Zain under the team name Beauty of Denim.

Initiated by the late Tun Endon Mahmood, the wife of former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in 2003, the competition aims to discover talents in batik creations.

Also present at the finals were Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Hajah Haminah, Yayasan Budi Penyayang Malaysia (Penyayang) chief executive officer Datuk Leela Mohd Ali, foundation chairman Nori Abdullah and her husband, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

Open to Malaysians aged 18 years and above, participants compete individually or in groups of not more than four.

The competition comprises the fashion, soft-furnishing and handicraft categories.

For each of the three categories, the first prize is RM30,000, second prize RM10,000 and third prize RM5,000.

There was also consolation prizes of RM1,000 each for each category.

The Star is among the media partners of the event.