Cashing in on coconut shells

BAGAN DATUK: The rows and rows of coconut trees make for a scenic landscape as one drives from Teluk Intan to Bagan Datuk. After all, the latter is one of the biggest producers of coconuts in Malaysia.

One of its more artistic denizens Muhammad Isa Che Rose, 39, is putting his skills to good use to create an array of ornamental crafts like keychains, pendant lamps, table lamps and coin boxes using raw materials found there in abundance -- coconut shells and tree trunks.

Transforming a discarded item like the coconut shell or trunk into a work of art can be a tedious process, but to a creative person like Muhammad Isa, or Isa as he is more popularly known here, it is all in a day’s work.

This 39-year-old father-of-three sees commercial value in coconut shells and tree trunks as there is good demand for handicrafts fashioned from these natural materials.

The returns are good, but it commensurates with the the amount of time and effort he puts into his craft making business, which he has been operating from the premises of his family home, here, over the past two years.

“Why waste the shells when we can use our creativity to turn them into crafts that can give us our own identity. Furthermore, Bagan Datuk has for a long time been known throughout the country for its coconut industry,” said Isa, who was born in Kampung Sungai Nipah Darat in Rungkup, near here.

He told Bernama all he had to do now was to exploit more fully the raw materials that were at his disposal at no cost. Coconut shell-based handicrafts are among the products from Bagan Datuk’s small- and medium-sized industries that are rarely found in other parts of the country.

It is understood that there are only six people in Malaysia, including Isa, who run their own coconut shell craft-based businesses.

Even though his family owned a 19.4-hectare coconut smallholding, Isa said the idea of venturing into the craft making industry only transpired when he attended a handicraft making course organised by the Department of Agriculture at Sungai Betul, here, in 2014.

“I left my kampung to make a living in Melaka after I completed my schooling in 1995. I continued working there for 17 years and even got married to a girl from Melaka,” he said, adding that in 2011, his 78-year-old father Che Ros Osman urged him to return home to help him take care of the smallholding.

He chose to return to his village with his wife Zunaidah Mohamad, 35, and three children aged between two and 12 years.

Then came the course and the rest is history. The very first craft he made out of a coconut shell was a pendant lamp, which he enhanced with flower petal motifs and strokes.

“At first only my close friends and relatives knew about my handiwork but eventually it became an enterprise and I started getting a lot of orders from government departments and agencies for souvenirs (made out of coconut shell),” said Isa, who is also often invited by the Department of Agriculture and Human Resources Ministry to train people in the art of craft making.

Isa makes all the crafts himself, with his wife chipping in sometimes, and they are largely handmade, with only 20 per cent of his workmanship involving the use of tools like drills to punch holes.

“I enjoy trying out new craft ideas, including contemporary concepts,” he said, adding that in order to create a beautiful piece of handiwork, one would need to have a deep interest in the art and take pride in one’s work.

“It’s something we should do for our own personal satisfaction, and not just for the purpose of selling.”

He spends about 10 hours a day crafting and is able to create two or three pieces of handicraft during that period, depending on what he is making.

Isa usually sources for mature coconuts from his family’s smallholding, which are dehusked before having their meat removed.

His craftwork begins with smoothening the shell with sandpaper, followed by punching holes in the appropriate places or drawing the motifs.

Then comes the process of shaping the shell into the desired product before it is shellacked to make it look more appealing and enhance its resilience.

These days, Isa has his hands full meeting orders for souvenirs from various government agencies like the Bagan Datuk district council and also operators of homestay programmes.

“I’m currently busy making 100 pieces of the replica of the Bagan Datuk jetty which the district council has ordered to be given away as souvenirs.

“It’s quite complicated to make this replica and it’s taking me four days just to make one piece because we’re only using coconut shells and the tree trunks to make them,” he said, adding that each piece is priced at RM700.

Isa, who regularly participates at exhibitions such as the One District One Industry showcase in Melaka and Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture & Agrotourism 2016 in Serdang, Selangor said his decorative lamps were his bestselling items, selling three or four sets each month.

His coconut shell-based crafts are priced from as low as RM2 up to RM250 a piece, depending on the type and uniqueness of the product.