the future - only god knows

now that we have a new prime minister close on the heels of the americans having their new president, perhaps for me, it's a great time to ponder on the future, not withstanding the current grim world economic scenario.
my view is that trade would never bottomed out to a level where it completely disintegrate. that has never happened before and will never in the future.the one who is strong and prepared will be the survivors and conveniently placed to take advantage of the glorious spoils that will rise and present itself after every calamity. can someone perhaps give me an example of those who benefitted from the great depression, i am sure there were many, just that my brain is a bit exhausted now.
lets take the batik business as our subject. we all know the impact on batik brought on by our last leader, firstly, datin endon's enduring interest in batik revived this flagging industry to a certain extent, primarily i believe that the millions splashed on by the government in it's various promotion activities raised the awareness of batik among the general population to a higher notch. then paklah's edict to government servants to wear batik's every thursday brought on a rush of batik apparels among civil servants, all 1.5 million of them. herein lies the double edged sword that i believe will ultimately bury to death batik enterprises driven by artists- biased entrepreneurs. in the short term, the governments edict on wearing batik would seem like a godsend to them, there is undoubtedly already a minor explosion in batik entrepreneurship, established to ride on the back of this government-inspired wave.just google batik and you will encounter numerous so-called batik producers, most of which are nothing more than a tiny little outlet in nowhere. for those alert and discerning enough, their antenna would have already perked at the gathering storm that is already savaging certain sectors of the batik business, namely the increasing threat of digital textile printing technology that promises lower cost of mass batik production. as consumers and ultimately government servants becomes ever more cost-conscious in the wake of economc recession, printed batik will become a most appealing alternative due to it's lower cost and digital printing technology is coming up to a level where it rivals existing batik methodologies and exceed it in some instance, particularly in the area of mass production.thus, in my view, the economic recession will hasten the "paradigmshift" in the batik industry. it will divert batik production away from the small artist biased enterprises to bigger cash-resourced organisations. digital textile printing technology will ultimately dominate, squeezing to a corner the quaint and arty-farty-tarty art of tjanting beloved by the arty-farty crowd.
back to the future, there would still be a place for the traditional batik entrepreneurs but it's an ever diminishing place, squeezed out by digital printing and the consumers tightening purse. the challenge would be to marry both activities so that one complements the other and this is where i intend to position lyanne batik. it is a future that i so look forward to, it's a challenge that i am quietly confident that i , inshaallah, can take on for the remaining years of my life. back to the government, should the government and especially, the returning arts minister be genuine in their aspiration to develop the local batik industry I urge them to study this matter in greater detail, but don't take too long as the small batik entrepreneurs doesnt have deep reserves and splurging out on overseas trips is definitely not the answer my preliminary thoughts are:-

1. don't view it as a narrow batik business - view it as a textile business.
2. look at alternative options to be cost competitive. generating an endless supply of ikn graduates is definitely not the answer. where are they going to work if there is no batik industry??????
3. enhance awareness and education of batik among the young- they are the future buyers.have batik classes as a recognised and government funded extra curriculum activity, have it at certified and authorised batik entrepreneurs premises. this will mean much needed income to the small guys/makciks
4. establish clear and achievable standardisation/ procedures/ specifications.
5. develop natural enhancements such as natural dyes.
6. spread the compulsory use of batik to others, say schools / kindergartens.

conclusion
the future is something took forward to and not feared
unfortunately the new first couple has been accused and has a reputation of money grabbing by certain quarters. this is not goood for batik entrepreneurs as there is not much to give awayunlike the construction business say. so, i dare say that unless the new regime themselves indulge in the batik business, the future should stillbe reasonably ok for those in the batik business who are diligent/ forward looking andduisplay less of the arty-farty-tarty attitude.