Participants in Batch 3 will join the training online.
KUCHING: The Sarawak Young Designers (SayD’SignersSarawak) programme, a collaboration between the Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC) and Indonesia’s Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), will continue despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
STIDC general manager Hashim Bojet said six fresh graduates from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) are the latest batch to join the programme.
An online welcoming ceremony was held for SayD’SignersSarawak Batch 3 by ITB’s Fine Arts and Design Faculty on Feb 15 to mark the commencement of their second year Furniture Design Training Programme.
This group started first year training in 2020 through an industrial attachment programme with local furniture manufacturers in Sarawak.
“Due to the current pandemic, this batch could not be present physically at ITB. ITB has adjusted the training syllabus and curriculum, which will be conducted online.
“Despite the pandemic, STIDC continues to promote SayD’SignersSarawak globally,” Hashim said in a statement yesterday.
He said STIDC, in collaboration with the Sarawak Trade and Tourism Office Singapore (Statos) and the Singapore Furniture Industries Council (SFIC), will hold a webinar on SayD’SignersSarawak on April 6.
“In addition, STIDC will also join the virtual The Asean Furniture & Furnishing Shows to be held on March 9-18, promoting the new design and the prototypes produced by the SayD’SignersSarawak,” he said.
He explained the SayD’SignersSarawak programme is a two-year training programme develop by STIDC in collaboration with Unimas to enhance the knowledge and skills of the university’s industrial design graduates.
“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-adding, especially the furniture industry.
“With a target of having 100 trained furniture designers by 2030, STIDC’s vision is to achieve an export earning of RM6 billion worth of high value-added products, such as furniture from Sarawak by 2030,” he said.
STIDC has collaborated with ITB since 2019 to further develop skills and talents in furniture designing.
“ITB has developed a thoroughly researched customised curriculum for this programme and we have seen its positive impact with a lots of improvement to the trainees.
“Implemented since 2018, to date we have trained four batches with a total of 26 fresh graduates, of which 15 are now still undergoing training at ITB,” he said.
He said Batch 4 comprising five fresh graduates from Unimas commenced their first year attachment training under the guidance of a creative consultant, who is an experienced designer appointed by STIDC.
“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,” he added.