ISKANDAR PUTERI, Nov 27 — In conjunction with the new official weekend for Johor, all state civil servants are required to don the Baju Kurung and Baju Melayu Teluk Belanga with the Kain Benang Johor as the Friday work attire starting next year.
Johor Unity, Heritage and Culture Committee chairman K. Raven Kumar said the new attire policy aims to promote Kain Benang Johor, which is a traditional state craft product, to local and foreign tourists.
“Its use by government officials is a promotional strategy to introduce Kain Benang Johor products.
“These handcrafted products are now becoming more well-known and in demand,” he said at the Johor state legislative assembly session in Kota Iskandar here today.
Raven Kumar (BN-Tenggaroh) was responding to a question from Gan Peck Cheng (PH-Penggaram) on the government’s initiative in promoting Johor’s handicraft products as a tourist attraction in the state.
On a related matter, Raven Kumar said the state government, through the Yayasan Warisan Johor (YWJ), will offer educational programmes on weaving starting next year.
He said the programme is an effort to find talent and skilled workers in the field of traditional yarn production.
“The programme will be implemented for three months or 12 weeks based on modules provided by the department in the form of basic training on the production of woven products related to Kain Benang Johor fabric.
“As a start, the programme targets 20 youths with Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) who are interested in the field of handicrafts. Through this initiative, we can open up job opportunities for Johoreans and increase the production of state handicraft products in conjunction with the Visit Johor Year (VJY) 2026.
The Kain Benang Johor is a traditional plaid-patterned hand-woven fabric similar to Songket, It embodies Johor’s cultural heritage and is synonymous with the state’s royal family.
For Fridays next year, the traditional Johor attire will be the Baju Kurung and Baju Melayu Teluk Belanga. Both traditional tops for men and women has no collar and the neckline is stitched in the style known as tulang belut.
Both men and women civil servants are also required to don their traditional attire made or accompanied by Kain Benang Johor cloth.
Johor will revert to Saturday and Sunday as its official weekends from January 1 next year.
The decree by Johor Regent Tunku Mahkota Ismail, with the consent of His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, would change the state’s official rest days of Friday and Saturday since 2014.
