Tikar @ Mat...

Though it hot and humid out here, it still is a beautiful day in February. I thought that I would just share these thoughts of mine. My spouse and I went to a Craft Exhibition during the last few days and bought two Tikar to add to our collection. 

In a traditional Malay house the Tikar or Mat is a normal item to have. During the time when western furnitures are as yet to be introduce to the Malay house the Tikar is spread on the wooden floor for folks to sit during meals time. When one has guests normally a new Tikar is use for the guests to sit. The traditional Malay Tikar [Mat] is made of the leaves of the Mengkuang plants which is found in abundance in the coastal area of the country. It is not that easy to weave this Tikar and had to be learned from young. It is a tradition that is passed down from generation to generation and still in practice today in the rural part of the country. Folks would weave it over times and sometime it may take months to get a good piece done. In actually fact each piece is different than the other since it is weave by hand. To me it is indeed a piece of the work of art. With the development of new housing less and less Tikar are used thus it is now considered just as a piece of artwork to adorned the home.

Personally I love the Tikar and would always buy it for my home. I would spread it in every rooms. It does enhance the ambiance of the space. Since it is made of leave it does not last long. With heat and the humidity it would worn out easy thus it had to be thrown away and replaced by a new one. And that is what I do in my home. To me the Tikar is better than the carpet since it does not harbour dust mite. This is because in the tropic the weather is always hot and humid thus the moisture in the carpet would be a great breeding ground for dust mite. As for the Tikar it always dry thus there are no way for any dust mite to live and multiply. Indeed it is better than the carpet to adorn the floor of the house.  

Above are the Tikar that are on sale at the Craft Exhibition at the GE Mall in Kuala Lumpur. The one which I bought at the exhibition now adorned the living space of my home as seen in the image on the left.

Have a nice day.