Traditional songkok maker working hard to complete Hari Raya orders

A month before Ramadan is always a busy time for Haja Mohideen Mohd Shariff, 68, a well-known songkok maker in Penang.

Sometimes, he has to work round the clock to meet orders from customers, who are from as far as Singapore, for his hand made "Songkok", a stiff oval headgear.

Haja Mohideen said he was only 12-years-old when he first learned how to make a songkok from his father.

He is now passing the skill to his son-in-law, Abdul Kader Mydin, who assist him daily at his shop, OSM Mohd Shariff, which is located next to Nagore Mosque, at King Street, here.

"Usually, we start getting orders for various types of songkok a month before Ramadan. During this time, we will have to produce an average of 700 songkok to meet the orders.

"I am happy that Abdul Kader can continue with the family business as the art of making the hand-made songkok is now a dying trade," he told Bernama here today.

He said most of the songkok sold in supermarkets were machine-made and could be produced in bulk but lack in quality compare to hand-made.

Today, songkok making is a dying trade in Penang, with only a handful of songkok makers left in the state to continue with the tradition.

Haja Mohideen explained that the process of making a songkok starts with the inner frame which is made of 18 layers, comprising old newspapers stitched together with a layer of brown paper and fancy stitching cloth.

"This is later cut into an oval shape for the top, according to head size, while a long rectangular piece of the same material is used to form the wall or sides of the songkok.

"Joining the oval top and the surrounding rim of the wall is a delicate process," he added.

He said the finished songkok must be able to stand steadily on a flat surface before it could fit nicely on ones head.

The uniqueness of hand-made songkok is that each of them have a different curve compared with the machine-made ones which are all the same, he added.

Haja Mohideen said many uniformed organisations such as the police, army and the cadets often made orders for brown, purple and green songkok.

He said he and Abdul Kader could produce 15 pieces of songkok daily and their hand-made songkok are supplied to traders in Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Singapore.

He said majority of his customer preferred black or blue velvet medium high songkok.

Songkok with gold and silver trimmings are reserved for the royalty, he added.

The price of the songkok depends on its size, type of fabric and pattern.

The songkok produced by OSM Mohd Shariff are sold for between RM23 to RM35 each.