Compiled by FAZLEENA AZIZ and C. ARUNO
AT 88, Zainab Abu Bakar is still weaving mengkuang mats, a skill she inherited from her late aunt at the age of 13, Kosmo! reported.
The octogenarian with five children, 29 grandchildren and 58 great-grandchildren, still bravely wades through the swamp behind her house in search of mengkuang leaves.
“Even though the world is becoming more modern, demand for mengkuang mats has never stopped.
“I am the only mengkuang mat entrepreneur still alive in this village to continue the business,” she said at her home in Kampung Tanjung Maktat in Kemaman, Terengganu.
Zainab said her five daughters were not interested in inheriting the mat weaving business which required precision and patience.
“The process of making mengkuang mats begins by finding the leaves, before splitting them using a special tool called a jaka.
“The mengkuang leaves are then soaked for two days so that their natural colour fades before being dried for two days. If dyed, the drying process takes even longer,” she said.
Zainab said a mengkuang mat measuring 2.29m x 1.37m usually took about five days to complete.
She said she could make 10 pieces of mengkuang mats in a month which sold for between RM60 and RM70 depending on the colour.
> It is not great being labelled a ‘hot’ widower, says dashing Singapore actor Hisyam Hamid, Berita Harian reported.
Every time a woman got close, he said there would be those who would try to matchmake them.
The father of two said it was easy to get caught up in gossip, and was careful to ensure such stories don’t hurt his kids.
“I have said before, every time I am nice to someone, especially a woman, it will definitely become a topic of conversation. Because of that, I try to avoid being nice to or getting too close to any woman.
“I have not been associated with anyone. But, it’s normal that sometimes netizens just like to ‘pair’ people up.
“I am not comfortable being associated with anyone. After all, my children are all grown up. My eldest is 19 and the other 17.
“They understand many things. If I were in their place, I wouldn’t be happy with their father’s love gossip. As a father, I have to take their feelings into account,” he said.
Having lived as a single father for almost two years after the collapse of an 18-year marriage, Hisyam admitted that there were times when he felt lonely.
“Of course, I wish someone would make coffee when I wake up. But I do everything myself. Sometimes I ask my children to help me prepare my clothes if I don’t have the time,” he said.
(The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.)
