Entrepreneurship
Marketing Exotic Wood for Keris and Knife's Handles and Sheaths
Like many young men, Saiful has always been fascinated with the Malay keris and knives. He has a small collection that he takes out once in a while with his mind probably wandering to the days of Hang Tuah and his four friends. His father is a settler at Felda Jengka 7 in Maran. After completing his Form 5, Saiful attended a wireman course at a college in Nibong Tebal. After completion, he worked at the Bukit Gambang Safari Park as a technician. There, he met Nik Hafilah who was the guest service manager and whom he later married. After the marriage, they settled with Saiful’s parents at Jengka 7. When the Celcom Internet Centre at Felda Jengka 4 was established in 2017, Nik Hafilah applied and got the job as its manager.
As for Saiful, he decided to operate as an independent wireman in 2015. The following year, while doing his wiring jobs, he was approached by an orang asli from the nearby village. The orang asli brought with him samples of beautiful, exotic wood obtained in the deep forest around Maran. These woods are suitable to make handles and sheaths of keris, knives and parangs. While Saiful has an interest in keris and knives, marketing wood to craftsmen was never in his mind
Researching
Saiful was excited with the opportunity. He spent the next couple of months busily researching on the internet. He visited related Facebook groups, checked the chat in forums among collectors, and also tried to familiarise himself with the types of wood that are highly sought after. He also managed to get his good friend, Haizad Ropi who is a water pipe technician, involved in his new exciting journey. They concluded that the project was viable for them to start the business part-time. The next step was to discuss and negotiate terms and prices with the orang asli supplier. They started with an initial stock of interesting wood species such as kemuning limau, kemuning emas, ketengga and merbau. These were in raw form and the two had to invest in a small circular saw and sander to work on the wood. YouTube videos served as a good source of free tutorials for the two friends.
Marketing & Promotion
The Celcom Internet Centre at Jengka 4 was open in 2017. Since his wife is the manager, every morning when he sends his wife to the centre, Saiful would spend an hour or two to manage his Facebook account, and post items for sale in Facebook groups such as “Kelab Seni Pisau Parang Malaysia” and “Kelab Pisau Parang Malaysia”. He also checks his Messenger to track customers’ orders, and use the centre’s services for printing and photocopying. Later, he goes to his home workshop, where with his partner Haizad, they work on various customer orders that come from many locations, including Sabah and Sarawak.
Currently, their latest offering is burl sapir and serunai wood which are in great demand. Burl or sometimes known as burr is a tree growth where the grain has grown in a deformed manner. It looks ugly on the outside but is magnificent on the inside. Now, the pair has little time for their electrical and water pipe jobs as they are so occupied with the wood business. At the same time, they now have to think about branding and consider marketing knives and parangs, specially customised from craftsmen to be marketed as their own products.
Saiful Amri, 31
Exotic wood
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Served by Celcom Internet Centre
Felda Jengka 4, Maran, Pahang
