By Kamarul Halim M Kamal
MUAR: The Masood Hussin songkok needs no introduction in the royal town of Muar, however many are unaware that the maker is a woman, Nurdalila Abd Ghani, who is the granddaughter of the brand’s founder.
The 41-year-old Nurdalila was exposed to the art of songkok-making by her grandfather Masood Hussin since she was only seven years old, and started to make the Malay traditional headgear when she was in secondary school.
In 2002, the Universiti Teknologi Mara Sports Science graduate opened her own shop in Jalan Majidi-Jalan Meriam, Muar and decided to teach her husband Zahedy Zakariah, 43, the art of songkok-making, as part of her efforts to preserve the age-old craft.
“Many do not believe that it was me, a woman, who made the songkok. I also adept at making various types of songkok, in fact, I am the one who taught my husband (Zahedy) the craft so that the art of making songkok in Muar does not become extinct,” she said to Bernama.
Her meticulous handiwork received recognition when her songkok, which is also known as Songkok Muar, became the Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s favourite, as well as Muar MP, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, who is among her regular customers.
“Johor Sultan, Sultan Ibrahim Almarhum Sultan Iskandar, had also booked a special songkok for his coronation in 2015,” said Nurdalila, who also received orders from customers and fans from Singapore, Brunei and Indonesia.
According to Nurdalila, what is so special about Masood Hussin songkok is that it is made by hand and used imported material, as well as its size, which is slightly taller than regular songkok.
She said the selling price of each songkok is between RM15 to RM400 and can reach up to RM3,000 depending on the type of material used.
“The materials to make songkok is velvet of the black or navy-blue colour, but for customers in Johor, they prefer royal blue and tall songkok (songkok mahkota),” she said, adding that other types of songkoks that always receive customer orders include, songkok rata, songkok bulat (songkok daeng), songkok lipat and songkok istiadat.
She added that her business was not spared from being affected during the outbreak of Covid-19. Before the pandemic, she could sell up to 30,000 pieces of songkok a year, but she only managed to sell 10,000 pieces last year.
“However, I still continue to sell songkok online. Last year, out of 10,000 orders received, half (5,000) were from online and orders usually increased during the Aidilfitri celebrations,” she said, adding that most of the songkok in the market now were imported from Indonesia.
Nordalila said that perhaps the reason why not many youths venture into songkok making is because of its complicated process, starting from making the frame from cardboard or folded newspapers.
She said the songkok’s inner pattern and its stitches also require high accuracy and patience.
Undeterred, Nordalila and her husband have also started to impart knowledge to their eldest child, Itfan Raziq Zahedy, 14, with the hope that the heritage will continue to be preserved for future generations. – Bernama
