KUCHING, Feb 24: Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC) in collaboration with the Sarawak Trade and Tourism Office Singapore (STATOS) and the Singapore Furniture Industries Council (SFIC) will be organising a Webinar on April 6, 2021 to promote the Sarawak Young Designers (SayD’SignerSarawak) globally.
SayD’SignersSarawak is a two-years training programme developed by in collaboration with the University Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) with the objective to enhance the knowledge and skill of fresh graduates of Industrial Design (ID) from UNIMAS.
“This is 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.
“With a target of having 100 trained furniture designers by 2030, STIDC vision is to achieve an export earning of RM6 billion worth of high value added product such as furniture from Sarawak by 2030,” said STIDC general manager, Hashim Bojet in a press statement today.
To add more value to the training, STIDC has collaborated with Institute Teknologi Bandung (ITB), Bandung since 2019 to further develop the skill and talent in furniture designing.
Hashim further pointed out that ITB has developed a thoroughly researched customized curriculum for this program and STIDC has seen its positive impact with lots of improvement to the trainees.
Implemented since 2018, to date STIDC hs trained four batches with a total of 26 fresh graduates of which 15 are now still undergoing training at ITB.
“The fourth Batch of five fresh graduates from UNIMAS has commenced their first-year Attachment Training under the guidance of a Creative Consultant, an experienced designer, appointed by STIDC to run the first-year program in Sarawak.
“This is 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,” said Hashim.
On Feb 15, 2021, the Fakutas Seni Rupa dan Desain (FSRD) Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) had organized an Online Welcoming Ceremony for SayD’SignersSarawak Batch 3 to mark the commencement of their second year’s Furniture Design Training Program.
The six fresh graduates from UNIMAS started their first year training in 2020 through Industrial Attachment Program with the local furniture manufacturers in Sarawak.
Due to the current pandemic, this Batch could not to be present physically at ITB. ITB has adjusted the training syllabus and curriculum which will be conducted online.
Meanwhile, STIDC will also join the virtual The ASEAN Furniture & Furnishing Shows to be held on 9-18 March 2021, promoting the new design and the prototypes produced by the SayD’SignersSarawak. -DayakDaily
