KUCHING, Nov 25: The Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC) has to date trained twenty-one graduates whereby fifteen of them have undergone training at Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), Bandung, Indonesia.
Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of International Trade and Industry, Industry Terminal and Entrepreneur Development Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said, the first batch of six have completed their training and are now employed by furniture companies in Sarawak.
He added that this year, STIDC has trained the second batch of nine graduates as trainees for the Sarawak Young Designers (SayD’SignersSarawak) formally known as Pool of Young Designers (POYOD) Training Program on furniture design following the syllabus and curriculum developed by ITB.
Awang Tengah, who is also the chairman of STIDC said, SayD’SignersSarawak is a two-year training program developed by STIDC in 2017 for fresh graduates from Unimas, with the first intake of six trainees in 2018.
“But due to the due to Covid-19 pandemic, the training program was adjusted accordingly and most classes were conducted virtually Online and extended the training duration which is supposed to end in December 2020 to the middle of next year,” Awang Tengah today.
He made these remarks after a virtual briefing by Dr Imam Santosa, former Dean of Faculty of Arts and Design and current manager of SayD’SignersSarawak training program at ITB, held at STIDC headquarters here today.
STIDC has collaborated with ITB since 2019 to develop and implement a one-year fully customized furniture design training program for the SayD’SignersSarawak.
“This training is very unique and special of its kind in Sarawak if not in Malaysia because of its focus in developing skill and knowledge of fresh graduates in furniture design. Our collaboration with ITB, a prestigious university in Indonesia, has added value to our training program through their thoroughly researched customized curriculum for SayD’Signers Furniture Training Program,” said Awang Tengah.
He added that the SayD’SignersSarawak training program is developed in line with STIDC’s vision to transform the timber industry giving greater emphasis and focus on the growth and development of value-added especially the furniture industry in Sarawak with a target export of furniture and value add products worth RM6 billion by 2030.
The successful implementation of this program is supported by the Sarawak Timber Association (STA), Sarawak Furniture Industries Association (SFIA), STIDC subsidiary companies and STIDC vendors and the timber industry players.
Under this program, STIDC, in collaboration with ITB also participated in international exhibitions. Since the implementation of this programme STIDC has participated in furniture and design fairs in India, Australia and Dubai aim to provide greater exposure and widen experiences of SayD’Signers and at the same time to build branding, networking and rapport with international designers and communities around the world.
Also present at the meeting were Assistant Minister of Industry terminal and Entrepreneur Development Datuk Naroden Majais, Assistant Minister of Urban Planning, Land Administration and Environment and director of STIDC Board of Management Datu Len Talif Salleh, STIDC general manager Hashim Bojet and STIDC deputy general manager Dayang Nena Abang Bruce. – DayakDaily
