tompoq tompoh. mah meri
DESCRIPTION
Mah Meri, an indigenous ethnic minority group in Peninsula Malaysia. The term Mah Meri translates into ‘people of the forest’. Their ancestors used to roam the coastal areas of southern Peninsula Malaysia, Carey Island (an estuarine island at the mouth of Langat River) is their home now. Their village, Kampung Sungai Bumbon, is named after Sungai Bumbon, one of the small rivers that flow through the village. Tompoq Tompoh itself is made up of 32 members (and still growing) with ages ranging from 9 yrs of age to 80 yrs of age. Some of the women in the group are also single mothers.Their earnings from the sale of handicrafts are only supplementary to their family’s income. The married women members spend a lot of time at their woodcarving husband’s workshop to help sandpaper and polish sculptures and masks made from nyireh batu. The weaving initiative is to empower the womenfolk to be independent. Furthermore, the demand for their handicrafts provides economic benefit to them while helping to preserve our cultural heritage.TRANSCRIPT
CLINIQUE’s HAPPY DAY with Meals on Wheels &
Gerai OA’s visit to Tompoq Topoh Mah Meri
Women’s Workshop at Kg Sg Bumbun on P. Carey
Event’s Date: DEC 16 2011 Friday
Location Location : Kampung Orang Asli Sungai Bumbun, Pulau Carey, 42960 Kuala
Langat, Selangor
Note: Just off Port Klang, lies Carey Island. Named after Valentine Carey, a former British civil service officer in Malaya,
the large island is well-known for two things—unbeatable seafood and its indiginous tribe, the Mah Meri, famous for their
handmade crafts like wooden masks and woven items.
Project initiatives
In conjuction with CLINIQUE’s HAPPY DAY, CLINIQUE is working together with
NGO Ti-Ratana Penchala Community Centre’s Meals on Wheels
to distribute food, kindness and happy smiles to Tompoq Topoh Mah Meri
Women’s Workshop at Kg Sg Bumbun on P. Carey
Ti-Ratana Penchala Community Centre21, Jalan Penchala46000 Petaling JayaSelangorMalaysiaTel : +603-7784 9002Fax : +603 -7784 8002
E-Mail : [email protected] : http://www.ti-ratana-penchala.com.myhttp://mahasadhu.blogspot.com/http://trccpenchala.blogspot.com/
Recipients Background of Tompoq TopohTompok Topoh is a Mah Meri women’s workshop held in Kampung Orang AsliSungai Bumbun, in Pulau Carey, not far from Klang, about an hour’s drive from Kuala Lumpur. The workshops began in 2003 at the initiative of a Mah Meri woman, Gendoi Samah, who was alarmed by a decline in interest in pandanus weaving in 2000. This was due to the loss of available raw materials (ie. the disappearance of clumps of pandanus) largely as a result of land clearance. With the help of her daughter, Gendoi Samah gathered her extended family and friends and worked to revive the weaving of betel pouches, mats and baskets, traditionally made by Mah Meri women for personal and everyday use as well as to supplement their families’ income.
With the support of several individuals, non-governmental organisations and the Malaysian Handicraft Development Corporation, they managed to improve the weaving process as well as their weaving and dyeing skills. They also replanted almost one thousand pandanus seedlings with grants from the Regional Network for Indigenous Peoples (RNIP) and Ford Motor Company.Today Tompoq Topoh has about twenty members, all women, from Sungai Bumbun village in Pulau Carey . Most of them are active weavers who sell their craft as their main or supplementary income
Despite the pull of modern conveniences, the orang asli of Carey Island have managed to
preserve their heritage and traditions, in no small part due to the burgeoning tourist
industry.
Tompoq Topoh is the Mah Meri women's first weave initiative on the island. It means “the start of a collaborative effort”, from the Mah Meri word tompoq “the start of a weave” and
topoh, which means a woven mat pattern. The art of pandanus weaving (anyaman hake) was
slowing dying out until 2003, when Gendoi Samah Seman (an 80-year-old Carey Island woman) revived weaving of bujam (betel
pouches), mats and baskets
Majority of the women weavers are single mothers and some are supporting poor large family.
The Tompoq Tompoh weavers
The faces of the Mah Meri Community
The happy faces of the kids back from school
Another picture of their house.
The humble abode of Mah Meri,Orang Asli community