Sabah handicrafts are popular with tourists who throng the handicraft market in Sinsuran in Kota Kinabalu every day in search of souvenirs. Many pay (with dollars) hundreds of ringgit for necklaces and bangles made from cultured pearls. Sellers do a brisk business. Yet there were little interests in the recent maiden Sabah Handicraft Tamu at the Penampang Cultural Centre.

Wences Angang, chairman of the Sabah Cultural Board which organised the 3-day fair from March 12 to 14, noted that public response to it wasn’t encouraging. He blamed it on poor publicity. But the Sabah government might hold the fairs all over the state to promote local arts and crafts, he said.

“The handicraft trade can give villagers a good income,” Mr Angang said. “We must encourage young people to go into handicraft making.”

Already there are about 2,000 people, mostly native villagers, making or selling handicrafts for a living. Read more

Images and article grabbed from Insight Sabah