Nurul Izzah’s call for batik attire backed

POLITICS divides but batik unites as the call by PKR lawmaker Nurul Izzah Anwar to allow her male counterparts to wear the attire to Dewan Rakyat has shown.

The Permatang Pauh MP spoke about the importance of raising further awareness of the fabric and encouraging a competitive price for the product in a bid to help promote the local batik industry.

“When President Jokowi (Joko Widodo) announced his Cabinet lineup in Indonesia, all of them wore Indonesian batik.

“However, we are still facing restriction within Dewan Rakyat that prohibits male MPs from wearing

Malaysian batik.

“I hope you can further help, as only through awareness could we boost efforts to promote batik and help it to be sold at a competitive price by local players across the country,” Nurul Izzah said during Question Time in Parliament yesterday.

Her call resonated with lawmakers across the political divide, prompting Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan (BN-Pontian) and Datuk Jalaludin Alias (BN-Jelebu) to give their immediate seals of approval to her proposal.

Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Rembau) echoed his support.

“Even Singapore’s parliament has eased the dress code to make it easier for them to wear batik,” he said.

He also cited the high cost of local batik as among the deterrents to the public interested in getting it.

“It is said that the Malaysian batik is more expensive than the other batik which is much cheaper due to oversupply from neighbouring countries, especially Indonesia.

“Will the ministry look into the cost of batik, particularly by smaller businesses from the east coast?

“If we push down the cost, I believe that many people, especially the younger generation, will wear local instead of Indonesian batik,” noted the former youth and sports minister.