Weaving for Everything

Weaving is one of the most prevalent method used in producing many traditional goods in the Malay culture. It involves interleaving strips to make mats, baskets, or even wrappings for traditional food known as ketupat. Strips of palm tree leaves are used to make the ketupat wrapping. Bamboo, sliced along its length into strips are woven to produce baskets to handle heavy items such as forest products like durian (thorny fruits). Baskets that are commonly used as shopping bags and mats are woven from soft materials such as the leaves of nipah tree. Rattans, that are bent using special method, also traditional, are used as frames for the basket.
Before plastic people used to go to the market with the woven nipah basket. They put everything they buy, which usually are wrapped by used newspaper, and tied by dried banana ropes (tali pisang), in the basket. Dried banana ropes are made using the trunk of banana tress that are sliced into strips and dried in the sun to get rid of the water. The rope is as strong as the nylon-based rope we have now for securing most of the common everyday needs. The use of everyday, natural and thus biodegradable materials, ensures that the environment is preserved and resources put to clever use. Gradually, perhaps we should migrate to using natural, or traditional good again. If they can perform equally good as synthetics, they should not be replaced. Should they?