A survey of Malay weavers and silversmiths in Kelantan in 1951
J. M. Gullick, writing in 1952, presents the results of a field survey of two traditional Malay craft occupations—sarong weaving and silversmithing—conducted in Kelantan during the second half of 1951 under the Rural and Industrial Development Authority. Set against the backdrop of the post-war economic recovery, the article analyses the labour force structure, earnings, and degree of economic independence of workers in these crafts, documenting a sector in transition from domestic cottage production toward commercial workshop employment.
Summary
The survey was commissioned by RIDA and carried out by T. W. T. Bangs, Development Officer for Kelantan, with two Malay assistants, who visited every kampong identified by local headmen as having practitioners of six selected crafts. Gullick’s paper analyses only two of the six—sarong weaving and silversmithing—expanding a memorandum he prepared for RIDA with general information on weaving and silverwork in Malaya supplied by Dr. C. A. Gibson-Hill. The historical setting is one of contraction and partial revival: hand-woven sarongs had formerly been produced along the entire east coast from Patani to Johore, but by 1951 the original industry survived in Malaya only in the Kota Bharu district and the environs of Kuala Trengganu, while imported machine-woven cloth had long since captured the utility market, leaving the hand-loom with a luxury trade that was nonetheless in a “flourishing condition” (p. 135).
The weaving section is organised around three analytical axes: the age and experience profile of the workforce, the degree of economic independence (ownership of loom, dependence on middlemen for materials on credit), and earnings. Gullick identifies a clear demographic pattern in which the industry is dominated by young married women aged 21–30, and a structural pattern in which the overwhelming majority of kampong weavers depend on a middleman who supplies raw materials on credit and purchases the finished product, while typically retaining ownership of their own loom. A notable finding is that earnings correlate with experience but not with age: older, more experienced weavers earn less than their younger counterparts, a phenomenon Gullick attributes to the most skilled women shifting from loom operation to the more lucrative but less visible role of pattern-setting for others (pp. 142–143).
The silversmithing section, though covering a much smaller workforce, reveals a clearer career progression. Gullick demonstrates that a craftsman normally requires about ten years of employment to acquire sufficient skill to set up on his own account as a master, and that those who start independently too early do not reach the earnings level of established masters. The age-and-experience table also records the demographic scar of the Japanese Occupation: the 6–10 years’ experience group is almost empty, while the 0–5 years group shows a large post-1945 intake, and no silversmith claims more than 19 years’ practice, a figure that dates the craft’s near-extinction to the early 1930s (pp. 146–147).
Key Findings
- The survey recorded 919 Malay sarong weavers in Kelantan (845 kampong workers, 74 commercial weavers), compared with over 2,000 claimed for Trengganu and fewer than 200 combined for Pahang, Johore, Kedah, and Perlis (p. 138).
- 88% of kampong weavers were dependent on middlemen who supplied thread on credit; excluding the atypical case of Kg. Laut (where 80 of 221 weavers worked on their own account), the proportion rises to 96% (p. 142).
- Three-quarters of kampong weavers earned between $6 and $15 per month from part-time work; full-time workshop weavers earned a minimum of $25 p.m., with the highest recorded figure of $52 p.m. (pp. 143–144).
- A new frame loom cost approximately $60–80; two-thirds of weavers who owned their looms earned more than $10 p.m., compared with only one-half of those who did not (p. 144).
- Of 74 silversmiths in Kelantan, 54 worked in Kota Bharu; 27 were master-craftsmen earning typically $100–$150 p.m. (a few reaching $300), while 47 were paid assistants, of whom 35 worked at piece rates earning $50–$100 p.m. and 12 on daily wages earning $30–$60 p.m. (pp. 144–145).
- No Kelantan silversmith claimed more than 19 years’ practice (dating to 1932); the 6–10 years’ experience category contained only 3 individuals, reflecting the disruption of the Japanese Occupation, while the 0–5 years group contained 48, indicating a strong post-war recruitment drive (pp. 146–147).
Conclusion
Gullick’s definitive takeaway is that both crafts are in a period of post-war recovery and modest growth, but remain structurally constrained. The weaving industry is adapting from a purely domestic, part-time occupation toward a more commercialised form with full-time workshop employment, yet earnings remain low by any standard. The silversmithing industry, though small, shows a healthy age distribution of entrants and a clear skill-progression pathway, suggesting a sustainable future provided market demand for Kelantan silverware continues. The overall picture is of craft sectors that are neither dying nor booming, but slowly reorganising their internal economic relationships in response to changed market conditions.
Context
- The primary data derive from a RIDA-funded field survey conducted by T. W. T. Bangs and two Malay assistants in 1951, with supplementary technical information on weaving and silverwork methods supplied by C. A. Gibson-Hill; the article was read and approved by Bangs and the Chairman of the Kelantan (Malay) Arts & Crafts Society (p. 135).
- Historiographically, the article represents one of the first systematic economic surveys of Malay craft industries in the post-war period, providing a quantitative baseline (workforce numbers, earnings distributions, age profiles) against which later studies of the same industries can measure change.