By M. Govind Nair
A drive for conservation organised by BIMB Holdings Berhad (BHB) last Saturday took 156 journalists on a 300-km journey by road that brought them closer to some of the prized heritage assets of Perak.
The event enabled the journalists from the various media organisations to feel the pulse of the efforts towards sustainability, the key message imparted to the participants of the Media Heritage Hunt 2017 of BHB run in collaboration with the Malaysian national news agency, Bernama.
The media personnel answered questions on and snapped selfie photographs of heritage assets such as the Gopeng Heritage House, Kellie's Castle, Tanjung Tualang Tin Dredge No. 5 (TT5), Istana Kenangan Royal Museum and what is claimed to be the country's oldest rubber tree in Kuala Kangsar, and the Victoria railway bridge near Karai that is now attracting visitors as a museum piece.
They also interacted with the people who continue to keep nourishing the unique art of making earthernware (labu sayong)) containers, weaving gold thread embroidery (tekatan emas) and carving kris (daggers).
The hunt participants donned boots and waded in knee-deep water to pan for tin with the traditional 'dulang' (wooden trays) at TT5 in Tanjung Tualang and tried their hand at moulding clay into labu sayong products at the Kraf Sazilah/Mehans Enterprise workshop in Kuala Kangsar.
"We aim to create value through the promotion of the local trades from Perak," said new BHB and Bank Islam chief executive officer Khairul Kamarudin, who flagged off the event with Bernama general manager Datuk Zulkefli Salleh at the Bank Islam Sungai Buloh branch in Selangor.
"This can elevate the economic status of these entrepreneurs, which indirectly contributes to the development and wealth creation of the small and medium industries of the state (of Perak)," he said in a statement on the eve of the event.
Khairul described the hunt as an important platform to express gratitude to local media agencies for their support and extensive coverage of activities of the BHB group including Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd, Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Bhd and BIMB Securities Sdn Bhd.
Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd launched the annual media treasure hunt in 2011 and from last year it is being organised by BHB.
Each of the hunts has enabled the participants to interact with the local communities, said Puan Wan Norkhairi Wan Samad, head of Group Corporate Communications of BHB.
"This year, we brought the journalists closer to the people who are toiling to keep alive or sustain the traditional trades such as making labu sayong (earthernware) containers, weaving gold thread embroidery and moulding kris," she said.
In past editions of the hunt, the journalist participants had engaged with the Orang Asli of Kampung Leryar in the Cameron Highlands, Pahang, the fishermen of Pontian, Johor, the 'keropok lekor' (fish crackers) makers of Kemaman, Terengganu, and guardians of the turtles in Cherating, Pahang.
This year, the participants learned from 82-year-old Azizah Mohd Yusof, who has earned a name for making gold thread embroidery, that it was difficult to keep the tradition alive as young people did not have the patience or the time for such painstaking work. Fortunately, one of her daughters has picked up the art.
It is the same story in the case of kris maker Abdul Mazin Abdul Jalil, 67, who moulds and shapes metal in the best way only he knows best to produce works of art for his clients who range from the layman to the royalty.
At every hunt, the participants are also required to purchase products which they drop off at selected welfare homes as part of their contribution to charity.
During Saturday's event, the 39 teams dropped off packs of toothpaste, beverage and detergent at the Rumah Anak Yatim/Miskin Budi Mulia Nurul Huda children's welfare home in Chemor.
"While expressing gratitude to the journalists, we also want them to know that there are people in the country who need help from those who are able," said Wan Norkhairi, stressing that conservation had been a key message that had been driven across during the hunts.
BHB and Bank Islam Group chief strategy officer Hizamuddin Jamalluddin spoke on Sunday of BHB's journey towards sustainability that is ingrained in our daily operations and business practice? at the prize-giving event at the Lost World of Tambun in Ipoh where the participants had stayed overnight. Zulkefli also attended the event.
"Our operating units, Bank Islam, Syarikat Takaful and BIMB Securities, not only offer Syariah-compliant products but also operate in a holistic ecosystem that is in line with the Maqasid Syariah (the intended outcome of Syariah) which focuses on promoting well-being of the people by safeguarding the five key elements (of faith, life, intellect, posterity and wealth)," he said.
Hizamuddin said the hunt was one of BHB's ways of showing appreciation for the journalists as well as an initiative in ensuring societal and environmental well-being that BHB wanted its stakeholders to be able to engage in.
"It is one of our means of supporting the national agenda in creating awareness of these dying traditional handicraft that you all saw and experienced yesterday (on Saturday). We have to ensure they remain an important part of the country's heritage and identity.
"Our objective in crafting this programme (hunt) this year is to open up opportunities for wealth creation from this cultural heritage as well as to empower the community to be self-sustainable in the long run, whilst inculcating value of heritage preservation amongst the media participants," he said.
Utusan Malaysia's 'Kereta Buruk' team led by Rozaman Ismail emerged champion in the hunt with a score of 163 points out of the maximum 170 to win the first prize of RM4,000 cash.
The runner-up was the 'Bernama Online' team headed by Zaharin Mat Noor which garnered 156 points to win the second prize of RM3,000 cash while the third prize of RM2,000 cash was won by the NST/Astro team led by Chok Suat Ling which also chalked up 156 points.
-- BERNAMA
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