The event saw the crowd, made up of expatriates and locals VIP enjoying an evening filled with Malaysian culture and fashion.

The fashion show by Jadi Batek saw two segments with models strutting a collection of batik for leisure and formal wear.

Mutiara Goodyear Executive Chairman Mr.Hamidon Abdullah said the event was held to introduce the Nadayu, a unique choice of bungalows to the public. It is designed with the idea of stylish comfort conceptualized by art and nature.

Jadi Batek Gallery Creative Director Mr.Colin Yong said that the theme of the dinner is great because same as the Nadayu bungalow, every piece of batik is a masterpiece.

The Batik Boutique Hotel has only 15 rooms and target the growing number of flashpackers (wealthier backpackers), families, independent and business travellers who want comfort and character.

You can find the batik motif everywhere, from the hotel’s frontage to the foot stools, walls and lights. Even the bathroom floor has a beautiful batik design.

“I just love batik and so have invested a lot in the design (of the hotel). It would be easy to expand the hotel into a chain around South-East Asia in the future as batik is synonymous with the region,” grins Fong.

For more information about the hotel, please refer to the www.batikboutiquehotel.com

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Recently, a local tourist guide requested a batik shirt with Malaysian cultural elements so that he can explain them easily to foreign tourists.

We have come out with few designs and he is happy and bought all of them. He is impressed with the detail of the motif and colors of the batik fabric.

This is a batik fabric with Malaysian traditional games. Wayang Kulit, Wau and Gasing.

Wayang Kulit is shadow puppet show, Wau is kite flying and Gasing is top spinning. All are typical traditional Malaysian games and sports activities.

The tourist guide  mentioned to me that sometimes when he brought foreign tourists to east coast and tried to explain traditional games like kite flying but can’t find any during monsoon season. Or when the shadow puppet show is not available during weekdays.

Now, when the real traditional activity is not found, he can now just show the shape and design of wau, wayang and gasing from his batik shirt to the foreign tourists now.

The other 2 pieces of batik fabric with wau and wayang kulit.

Dr.Joel Mendez is a well known celebrity in Philippines. He is the founder of the Mendez Medical Group (of Body & Face and Weigh Less Center), President of Philippine Anti-Ageing Medical Society, Laser Medicine Society, Inc., andMesotheraphy Society.  In 2002, he opened The Big and Small Art Gallery to support young modern artists so that there is space for them to present their out-of-the-box ideas through the power of visual art.

Dr.Joel Mendez has visited Jadi Batek Gallery many times but this time he brought 12 artists together to try batik drawing.  Although this is their first time, the talented artists master the skill very fast. To them, batik is just another way to express their ideas.

They used the wax to draw the outline and color with dye. All of them shared on a piece of 3m silk fabric. The result was amazing. It was totally different from typical Malaysian batik artists with faces, statues, skulls and creative patterns.

It was truly a masterpiece. They will bring it home and show it proudly to their friends in Philippines. Hopefully, someone will buy it as well.

The designs were shown to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak before he chaired the cabinet meeting  at his office here. The prime minister will choose one of the designs to be used on attire for official functions.

The designer is Mr.Nazarii Maarus and he took a month to come up with four shirt patterns, two baju kurung and two kebaya.

“The designs incorporate all the races in the country, Malays, Chinese and Indians, and the ethnic groups of Sabah and Sarawak and feature songket, paisley, peacock feather, pua kumba, peony and cotton flower motifs,” he said.

The five colours used were red, blue, black, yellow and white, said Nazarii, who was the 2nd prize winner of Piala Seri Endon 2003.

I am glad that Batik is chosen as the official attire for 1Malaysia but I think the design should not be fixed so that other batik producers can also contribute and create their own 1Malaysia themed batik design.

Anyway, Congratulation to Mr.Nazari Maarus to take the first step.  To support the movement, Jadi Batek will also present our 1Malaysia themed batik shirt soon.

Mr. Azhar Sukri is looking into the spat between Indonesia and Malaysia over cultural heritage. Both Indonesia and Malaysia are claiming the ownership of traditional dance, folk songs, wayang kulit and batik.

Mr. Azhar Sukri from Al Jazeeral visited Jadi Batek Gallery and asked Mr.Colin Yong the difference between Malaysian batik and Indonesian Batik.

Jadi Batek on Al Jazeera