JOHOR BARU: With Hari Raya Aidilfitri less than three weeks away, tailors here have started to see an increase in orders for baju melayu and baju kurung.
Roslan Harun, 43, who sells traditional Malay attire in Larkin, said orders began to pour in a few months before Ramadan.
“We did not get any orders in the past two years, and were solely dependent on the sales of ready-made clothes.
“This year, we got orders for about 1,000 sets of traditional clothing. However, orders from Singapore are still very low as the border has only recently reopened,” he said.
So far, Roslan has received fewer than 10 orders from Singaporeans.
“We could not accept too many as Hari Raya is only a few weeks away,” he said, adding that before the pandemic, 90% of his customers were Singaporeans.
Jamil Sukaimi, 52, who owns a tailoring shop in Jalan Dataran Larkin 2, said he had no choice but to turn down a few orders from Singapore as it was already too late.
“Normally, they would start ordering five months before Ramadan but since the border reopened in early April, they could not do so.
“However, I do have Singaporeans who buy ready-made clothes at my shop,” he said.
Jamil, who specialises in making the baju melayu teluk belanga, said tailoring the outfit would require more time.
“It is an intricate piece as the collar can only be hand-stitched. That’s why we need more time to complete the order,” he said.
Jamil has received about 1,000 orders this year, an increase of between 10% to 20% from 2021.
“It is an improvement from last year but it is still a far cry from before the pandemic when 4,000 (orders) was normal,” he said.
Home-based seamstress Siti Nur Azrin Zainal Abidin, 41, said her orders were almost back to the time before Covid-19.
“As I am home-based, most of my orders are from locals, even before the pandemic. The number of orders I receive for Hari Raya is usually about 180 to 200 sets.
“This year, I have already received about 160 orders and there could be more,” said the Segamat native.