The Batu Caves Tour – Part 1

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Finally Michael has completed his week of work in Malaysia and today is a day of fun and sightseeing.  I had asked him to pick from the list of things to do that he would like to do today and he picked the Batu Caves.  There were several stops on this tour that started at the front door of our hotel at 8:45am.

Stop 1:  Craft Cultural Complex

This was a very quick stop and not a lot of time to really see everything, but we gave it a shot.  It was multiple buildings with all kinds of local artisans demonstrating their craft and selling them.  It was a place I would have liked to spend more time browsing and looking.  Maybe next time… (yes, Michael says we will be back to Malaysia.)  But here are a few snapshots.  The landscape was really beautiful.

Stop 2: Royal Selangor Pewter Factory

A little History:  Founded in 1885 by Yong Koon (yáng kūn), his little shop called Ngeok Foh (Jade Peace), handcrafted pewter objects mainly for ceremonial use - such as joss sticks holders, incense burners and candle holders for alters of Chinese homes and temples. The pewter objects sold by Yong Koon were polished with "stone leaf" (tetracera scandens), a wild tropical leaf of a fine, abrasive nature. With the arrival of British colonials, the offering expanded to includes tankards, ashtrays and tea services. The brand was then known as Selangor Pewter.

In the 1970s, the company started exporting, first to Singapore and Hong Kong and then to Australia.  Towards the 1980s, the market expanded into Europe and later into Japan.

In 1992, the company changed its name to Royal Selangor to reflect its royal endorsement from His Royal Highness, The Sultan of Selangor that time, Almarhum Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah, and to reflect its diverse product range, which has extended beyond pewter.

The world's largest pewter tankard, recognized by the Guinness Book of Records, was made by Royal Selangor in 1985 to commemorate its centenary. Currently displayed at Royal Selangor headquarters, it is 1.987 meters tall, weighs 1,557 kg and has a capacity of 2,796 liter.

Now my photos and commentary”

The tour begins…

This is a pewter rendering of the Petronas Twin Tower in the City Center of KL.

All over the factory, both inside and out, are these hands out of pewter.  We were told these are prints of the hands of the crafters that make the items in the factory.  I thought that was a pretty cool thing to do.  These are the hands that made the pewter famous.

Ever wonder what pewter is… actually?  Well now you know!

A very popular field trip for the kiddos!

You see all the hammered pewter items?  It is done by hand by the workers in this factory and it is not easy to do!! Our attempt is definitely a reject!!  Remelt it down!

Nothing is mass produced by machines… it is all hand made, one piece at a time!

A Pewter bust - the son of Yong Koon, the original owner of the Pewter business.

The tankard in the Guinness Book of Records.  And the sign to prove it below!

This was very interesting stop… lots of history.

Stop 3: Batu Caves – see in Part 2 of this post.. lots of pictures

Stop 4:  Batik Factory  -  What is batik?

‘Batik’ literally means ‘writing in wax’ and the delicate patterns are formed by an artist drawing intricate shapes on a garment in wax and then particular colors are dyed onto the fabric. This process is then repeated until the desired effect is achieved. Then the wax is removed by steaming, boiling or – more often these days – ironing with some thin paper to absorb the melting liquid.
Batik is found in various forms around Asia but is thought to have originated in ancient Egypt as examples have been discovered in tombs dating back 2,000 years. It became especially popular amongst women from the Indonesian island of Java from the 13th century, although some of the best examples are sourced from east Malaysia. In modern times world figures such as former South African president Nelson Mandela was often seen wearing shirts with batik print.
Malaysian literature from the 17th century mentions the production of batik. Legend has it that Sultan Mahmud ordered Laksamana Hang Nadim to travel to India to and return with 140 pieces of batik serasah cloth sporting 40 different varieties of flower displayed on each. But when the seasoned adventurer was unable to find any that fit the bill in the subcontinent he decided to design his own. Unfortunately his ship sunk on the return voyage and he only managed to present four pieces to the furious Sultan.

These are stamps made of carved wood.

These are hand painted and hand dyed lengths of fabric.  And they were still wet.

Tie dyed anyone?  The painter came in and started heating the wax just as we were leaving so we did not get to see him actually doing the technique for laying the wax and painting.

They demonstrated tying the sarong.  I do not see this style on me… Just saying?

The discussion about the Batu Caves was too much to try to put into this post so I decided to make a part two.  Although a bit out of order I will tell you about the end of the day at the end of the Part 2 post.