The Malay Handloom Weavers

Book excerpt: Malay society of the past has usually been characterized by the presence of the peasantry, a pre-modern class of producers, tied to the land and beholden to a feudalistic or feudal-like ruling structure. In contrast, this book explores the diversity which in fact colours the economic history of the Malays. The subject of this book is a relatively unknown class of people, the handloom weavers, who played a decisive role in the economies of the eastern Malay states of Terengganu, Kelantan, and Pahang. Today, the products of these handloom weavers, the beautiful hand-woven sarongs and cloths, grace the most elegant and auspicious of occasions. What is the story behind the vicissitudes, often brutal, of textile production in the early or proto-industrial phases of the Malay economy? Why was the handloom industry, at its height, halted from realizing its full potential of trans-forming into a full-fledged industrial manufacture? What exactly is the putting-out system of production and how did men and women actualize their roles in such production regimes? Why did the putting-out system endure? In answering such questions this book explores the origins of the Malay handloom industry, its technology, its people, and its turbulent relationship with the ambitions of both the colonial and modern nation-states.