Elementary school dropout becomes batik master

Elementary school dropout becomes batik master

By Rita A. Widiadana

JAKARTA (JP): Josephine Komara, popularly known as Obin, never
dreamed of running a flourishing business in batik and the
traditional textile world.

Born and raised for the most part of her youth in the
Chinatown area on Jl. Kopi, Central Jakarta, Obin, the youngest
of three children, used to help out at her parents' business
which left little time for a formal education.

Behind her establishment of Bin House in the elite Menteng
area, which has become one of the most sought after places in
town for batik and indigenous textile lovers, is an interesting
story.

Every day, she receives guests and clients from around the
world. It was her great passion for traditional Indonesian
textiles that brought this woman to her present stature.

"I have always adored and admired the beautiful and delicate
batik, tenun (woven cloth) and other traditional fabrics," said
the outspoken woman.

At first she fell in love with old classical batik collections
belonging to her ex-husband, a skilled art and antique trader.

Obin treated the rare collections with great care and
admiration for their designs, craftsmanship and more importantly
for the people who produced such splendid art works.

The beauty of batik lies in its elaborate process of
production. It is a tribute to the patience, ingenuity and
craftsmanship of the artisans.

Indonesia possesses very rich and intricate textile designs,
she said. There are thousands of batik patterns and varieties of
artistic woven materials which vary from region to region.

People always want to keep up with technological progress, but
only a very few people care about preserving a centuries-old
legacy like batik art, she said.

"We should learn from the Japanese who master technological
know-how while at the same time painstakingly protecting their
cultural heritages," asserted Obin, who hasn't stopped smoking
since we began talking.

In l985, Obin was a young mother of two needing to start a new
life after divorcing her first husband. She didn't have any money
but with courage and her mind brimming with thousands of ideas
she faced her uncertain future head on.

"I went through a rocky marriage. For the sake of my two
children and myself, I asked him for a divorce," Obin said,
recalling her troubled marital years.

It was a really difficult 13 years, but she said she had to
keep up the fight. As a single mother, Obin found the business
world full of stiff competition and intrigue.

"I felt sad to know that many of my friends avoided me. They
were afraid that I would sneer at their husbands," she laughed.

In business, she had to face discrimination and harassment.

"I was shocked to find that many respected people, male ones
in particular, always would regard women as sexual objects," she
said.

Sometime in l985, she went to a bank where one of her close
friends was a director. To realize her ideas of producing fine
batik, she needed to take out loans.

"He was so impressed with my proposal that he promised to
provide the loan. But before I left his office, he asked me
whether I could have dinner with him just because I was a woman
and a divorcee," Obin recalled.

Some influential businessmen and officials were impudent
enough to send her their hotel room keys. "These were very
disgusting experiences to go through in my life that I and
probably a lot of other women have to endure with people of such
a mentality. They think that women have no brains or power," she
said.

Obin was not discouraged and found a way to prove herself.
Instead of complaining, she pushed herself to work extremely hard
in achieving her dream.

"It was a blessing in disguise not to have money and friends
around me at that time. It made me tougher and more creative,"
she remembered.

Obin viewed those years as the "seclusion period", a time for
self-contemplation, learning and working. "Finally, I realized
that we could rely only on God and ourselves to change our fate.
I was so sure that He would show me a way if I believed in His
immense power," said Obin, a devout Buddhist.

During this period, Obin traveled around the country to learn
more about traditional textiles, especially Batik. She met and
shared knowledge with accomplished batik and traditional textile
artists like Harjonegoro from Surakarta, Mundardjito, Buchari and
Ibu Geloh.

Through numerous ancient books and manuscripts, she uncovered
a wide range of little known information for producing high
quality batik from coloring and dyeing techniques, motifs,
patterns and more importantly the historical, cultural
backgrounds and philosophical ideas of each batik pattern.

"To me, a piece of batik or other traditional fabric has
magnetic power which mesmerizes people who understand the meaning
of each pattern and design," Obin explained.

Luckily enough, Obin had a team of experts to consult that
were resourceful, creative and innovative. Among the team's
members were Ronny Siswandi, an archaeologist and a lecturer at
the University of Indonesia.

"Ronny has widened my horizons and honed my intellectual
potency," commented Obin about her present husband and business
partner.

The couple and the team passionately experimented with various
techniques for producing superb batik and woven clothes made of
nontraditional material like silk, cotton, nylon and others. They
collaborated with batik and textile makers particularly in
Central Java.

Their hard work soon bore fruit. People started to notice
Obin's talent and her distinguished creations. They established
Bin House and expanded their businesses in Jakarta and Bali while
exporting to several fashion centers including Singapore, Japan
and the United States.

"Since the beginning, I always wanted to penetrate the
international market, especially Japan. The Japanese highly
appreciate delicate works of art like batik," maintained Obin,
who runs two exclusive boutiques in Tokyo and Nagoya.

She believes the success was achieved by solid teamwork. "It
is the accomplishment of 2,000 batik makers who hand in hand
helped build this handcrafted industry," she added.

Despite the economic crisis, their business remains solvent.
Obin plans to open new branches in several other cities.

"This kind of business is very sustainable because it involves
mostly domestic material resources, skillful people, and most
importantly an established and secure market line," explained
Obin, who is also a bookworm.

She went on to say that in doing business, interpersonal
skills are definitely needed. "I always treat my 2,000 partners
as my own family. People, whoever they are, must be treated with
dignity. I am so grateful to work with them for so many years,"
she noted.

Most of the 2,000 batik artisans are rural girls, housewives
and school dropouts who hardly have any formal education but who
possess extraordinary skills as batik and traditional textile
artisans.

"Indonesians tend to look down on people who don't have
degrees or formal education. They think that all of these people
are dumb," said Obin, who did not finish elementary school.

But people forget that many of these uneducated groups have
high interpersonal skills and a sense of entrepreneurship in
their fields.

She believes in life-long education. The learning process
occurs not only in classrooms. People can acquire all necessary
knowledge from various sources, books, community and personal
experiences, Obin asserted.

One of her goals is to provide informal learning centers for
rural children. "I plan to set up a library for children in
Seminyak, Kuta, Bali, and hope to build others in several
villages," added Obin.

Obin concluded that ideally, all Indonesians should receive
quality education. For those who do not have the chance to pursue
a formal education but are competent and talented in other ways
also deserve an equal place in the country's business and
employment world.