A stitch in time: Sham Ismaniza is confident she can complete her orders by Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
JOHOR BARU: Business is booming for the city’s tailors. They have been seeing busy days for months, keeping up with Hari Raya Aidilfitri orders that came in as early as June last year.
They said there has been an increase in demand from Singaporean customers who are enjoying stronger purchasing power due to the weakening of the ringgit.
Tailor Jamil Suhaimi (pic), 57, said he had received close to 2,000 orders from local and Singaporean customers for this year’s Hari Raya.
“Orders came in earlier this time. Normally, I will only see a significant increase in demand around August, but the rush started early this time,” he said.
“I started receiving orders in June, and by December I had already stopped taking orders to ensure that I can finish making all the clothes at least two weeks before Hari Raya.”
Despite the rising cost of living, Jamil said there has also been no significant drop in sales to locals.
Jamil, who specialises in making Baju Melayu Teluk Belanga with the “tulang belut” (eel’s spine) neckline, said there has been an increase in demand for the attire, also known as the Baju Melayu Johor.
“The demand for the Baju Melayu Teluk Belanga or Baju Melayu Johor has gone up since His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, ascended the throne.
“Previously, the attire was popular because of our Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) football team, but now its popularity has grown further because of His Majesty,” he said.
Another tailor, Siti Azrin Zailar, 43, said she had received about 200 orders so far, which is about 30% more compared to last year.
“I am still getting orders from customers, but have to decline them as it is just too close to Hari Raya. The last order I accepted was in January.
“It is such a relief to see things slowly going back to normal after the Covid-19 pandemic. My sales this year are, in fact, better than some of the pre-pandemic years,” she said.
Siti Azrin added that a majority of her customers this year are Singaporeans.
“Tailors in Johor generally get a lot of Singaporean customers, but the numbers seem to be higher than locals this year.
“I believe the currency exchange rate is one of the main reasons for this,” she said.
Meanwhile, Sham Ismaniza Ismail, 54, who only started her home-based tailoring business in Johor about a month ago, said she was surprised by the large number of orders for Hari Raya this year.
“I was a tailor in Kedah for about 10 years before moving to Johor Baru. I have only been here for three months and only just started promoting my tailoring services about a month ago.
“I was not expecting to get a lot of orders since people normally start ordering their Baju Raya about six months before the festival.
“Surprisingly, I got dozens of orders in just a couple of weeks. Almost every day, customers would contact me to ask if they could still order tailor-made Baju Raya,” she said, adding that half of her customers are Singaporeans while the other half are locals.
The mother of two stopped taking orders about a week ago, and is now in the midst of completing the 50 orders she has received.
“I stick to the first come, first served rule and only take orders that I am confident can be completed by Hari Raya.
“Although I have only started my business here for about one month, I can already see a huge difference in sales here compared to Kedah,” she said, adding that Johor has a larger market due to its proximity to Singapore.
