Sabah’s ‘Mama JaRum’ Stitch Culture Into Income For Rural Women

KOTA KINABALU, Aug 9 (Bernama) -- Forty women in Sabah are turning traditional ethnic motifs into a source of income after completing training as Mama JaRum (seamstresses) under an SME Corp Malaysia initiative.

SME Corp chairman Tan Sri Bernard Giluk Dompok said the project, under the Inclusive Business Value Chain Development (IB-VCDI) initiative, ran from April 15 last year to May 14 this year, aimed at lifting micro-enterprises to a higher level.

“This effort not only creates jobs but also weaves a stronger rural economy,” he told reporters after closing the Inclusive Business Sabah Ethnic Design Project, which was also attended by SME Corp CEO Rizal Nainy.

Through a partnership with Chanteek Borneo, the women’s handiwork will be marketed for the tourism sector, with the first batch already earning RM112,103 in sewing wages.

Chanteek Borneo managing director Anne Antah said the participants, from Tuaran, Tamparuli, Penampang and Kota Kinabalu, will continue working with the company for another four years, with the aim of introducing Borneo’s culture to the world through innovative, world-class crafts.

“With Mama JaRum, we are not just preserving Sabah’s ethnic patterns, we are stitching our identity into products that speak of who we are,” she said.

-- BERNAMA