A Morning Visit to Serikin

On any Saturday and Sunday you'll see as if the whole of Kuching converge on the tiny town of Serikin, an hour drive from Kuching city centre which I made today. Here local visitors and tourists from West Malaysia, Sabah and even Brunei flocked to shop for items that are produced from people across the Indonesian border. Serikin is a border town on Malaysian soil and is enjoying brisk business by allowing traders from the Indonesian border to sell their products and wares to Malaysian citizens and foreign visitors along its narrow and crowded singular street. I would estimate the total length of the street at 300 meters and on both sides are erected hundreds of makeshift stalls and tiny shops that sell anything from antiques, textiles, leather, glass wares, rattan mats, souvenirs from diverse range of materials like bamboo, rattan, wood, beads, silver etc., However the most popular item seemed to be the rattan mats that come in various sizes, colours and patterns. An average rattan mat size of say 6'x9' would fetch a prize of about RM 110- 150 depending on quality of workmanship and type of rattan used. Below are pictures of the rattan mats.

Today's weather was extremely hot and sunny. However the shopping crowd grew as the day progresses and that caused a traffic jam about a kilometer long as cars kept on coming to the only main parking space in town. Coincidentally today is a public holiday ( Malaysia's King official birthday) and double as a weekend holiday -cum-school holiday. It took me about an hour to clear the jam. To be at Serikin is to experience a totally different kind of shopping. It's not the sleek and air-conditioned shopping malls that are prevalent in cities. Here people walk the street in hot weather and bargaining is a must. Well, it's never too late to try and polish your bargaining skills here. Remember your Malaysian Ringgit (RM) is worth lots more than the Indonesian Rupiah. At today's rate RM 1 = 3600 Indonesian Rupiah. In Indonesia One Ringgit Malaysia can buy you a full meal, while One Ringgit Malaysia in Serikin or Kuching for that matter will only get you a bottle of plain water (500 ml)

This scene got me blown away. A street hawker with a push cart selling home-made fast food and snacks. He moved his eatery up and down the street, a brilliant idea I thought.

View of the narrow street and the shopping crowd.

Couldn't believe my eyes. A kilometer long traffic jam of shoppers to a tiny border town.

Rattan mats

We took to the road this morning to a border town south of Kuching called Serikin. The town sits on Malaysian soil but Indonesian traders are allowed to trade on its narrow streets that are thriving since it was made popular less than ten years ago by Malaysian tourists who come here by the bus loads at weekends. There were at least 100 traders I saw this morning plying their wares ranging from textiles, handicrafts, agricultural produces, clothing's and personal accessories and the very popular rattan mats.
Malaysians by cultural tradition sit on rattan mat floors when they eat or entertain guests to their homes. However in modern homes the norms have changed and many adopt the western style of sitting on sofas and dining on tables. As a consequence rattan mats are instead used as decorative floor mats in modern homes. At Serikin these mats are in abundance and sold at knock down prices . A piece with a standard dimension of 7'x12' would fetch an average price of about RM 80. The size varies from a width of 2' to 10' and lengthwise can be obtained from a size of 3' till 14'.

Many interior decoration works also use rattan mats as overlay for counters, walls and ceilings. For smaller sizes having intricate design they are framed and hung on walls as decorative wall pieces. From Indonesia the mats are brought in rolls but tourists overseas and from West Malaysia who want to bring them home by air will need them folded up and packed properly as air cargo items. Rattans are versatile and don't get broken or snapped when folded .



CU of Rattan Mat Design
The prevalence of rattan mats at Serikin is due to the presence of jungles that are still intact in certain parts of the Indonesian border where the rattan plants are still available. In Sarawak where much inland forests are cut for timber and oil palm plantations, the rattans are slowly disappearing unless of course drastic steps are made to grow rattans in plantations amidst the undisturbed forest canopy.
Many rattan mats are interwoven with tree barks to add variety to the design and by a process of dyeing, darker hues of brown to black rattans are incorporated to the overall mat design. By the look of it Malaysians will continue to line up the streets of Serikin in droves in their insatiable appetite for these unique rattan mats .

Wild Orchids and Rattan Handicrafts at Serikin

Yesterday (9 Aug) we took the road to Serikin, a border town some thirty minutes drive from Kuching City. This place is frequented by local tourists especially from West Malaysia who were seen keenly buying textiles, glass ware and rattan mats. There were also lots of wild jungle orchids and pitcher plants available for sale at very affordable prices. Below are snapshots of Serikin.

These rattan based handicrafts are made by the local Bidayuh community who are the main residents at Serikin.

Example of wild orchids on display. In the foreground is a flowering slipper orchid.