AFTER 30 days of running a pop-up store at the Midvalley Shopping Centre in the rush to Chinese New Year, Tino Soon should be dead tired. But the adrenaline was still pumping, and he was busy ticking off tasks to finish before leaving for Indonesia. Midvalley Shopping Centre had invited him to hold a pop-up store during the Hari Raya season and there was a lot to do.
“I don’t feel tired because this is what I like doing. If I don’t do this, what would I be doing sitting at home,” said the 70-year-old Soon who has been working in the fashion industry since he was 17.
Batik&Co is fashion designer and entrepreneur Tino Soon’s latest venture, but most people would probably know him too as one half of the design team at Mun Loong in the 1980s. Together with his business partner Allan Chan, they left Mun Loong and started the now-defunct fashion label Salabianca in 1999.
“Things changed and we could not compete and keep up, so we had to close Salabianca and Philosophy in 2014. We went into mall décor but I did a lot of soul searching in this period. After that, Allan got sick and passed away, and then the pandemic happened,” shares Soon as he narrates how he got into the batik business.
His new venture, he said, is “God’s plan”.
After all, Soon grew up in Kuala Terengganu surrounded by batik makers but did not develop an interest in batik. It took holidays in Jawa, Indonesia, to arouse Soon’s curiosity in batik and started exploring its potential. So, in 2016, Soon, the late Chan and their business partner William Tee started Batik+ Co. But this time, their business model was different.
“We opened pop-up stores instead of renting retail spaces or going online. We keep our costs low so that we can sell at low prices. I am also at the age when I don’t feel the need to make huge profits. I live simply and don’t need much. But it makes me happy to introduce new things to my customers, many of whom have become my friends,” says Soon who makes an effort to explain the craft of batik to his customers, explaining what is batik cetak (printed batik) or batik tulis (hand-drawn batik).
He is excited to introduce different aspects of batik to the Malaysian market. The batik prints Soon brings in are not limited to traditional patterns but also include hand-drawn motifs that depict sceneries with humans including a disco scene, zodiac animal motifs such as dog and dragons, and modern interpretations of fauna and flora motifs.
One of his earliest popular prints was of Koi fishes, and another one is of the Jawanese cloud motif mega mendung. The apparel made from the batik prints Soon sources are sewn in Malaysia and Indonesia but on a small scale.
“People are often surprised by the batik we carry. It’s surprising to them. I love what I am doing, so I am always trying to source for something novel for my customers so that they could see something they had not seen before,” adds Soon.
During his non-trading days, Soon and Tee would most likely be traversing Jawa, going from town to town, and from village to village, to meet batik suppliers and makers. He enjoys these trips very much and is invigorated by the opportunities to learn more about batik and share ideas.
Photos and videos on the road are shared on social media so that his followers can tag along on his batik journey. Soon goes right into the workshops in remote areas and shows workers hard at work manually dyeing the batik, and artisans hand printing the textile. He goes to markets and shows his audience the different local batik in Jawa, explaining each district’s distinct motif.
Although still fit and healthy at 70, Soon admits it’s taxing to travel around Jawa the way Tee and he do – on public transportation. But he says he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I love going places, looking at new things. I find it interesting to look at new developments. I enjoy walking and taking in my surroundings. I always take a different route on the way back so I could see different things,” says Soon who credits his success mostly to friends who have supported him and encouraged him in his batik venture.
“I thank God I have the chance to do this. I feel like I am doing something worthwhile. I don’t make as much money as others but I have made many friends. That’s fulfilling to me.”
– Molly Lim
