Indonesia is a vast archipelago country made up of over 17,000 islands. It has extremely high biodiversity, including many rare species like the Sumatran tiger and Javan rhinoceros. The country is also culturally and linguistically diverse, with over 300 ethnic groups and 700 indigenous languages. Batik is a traditional Indonesian technique of applying hot wax to cloth to create resist dye patterns, and it has inspired many Singaporean artists like Sarkasi Said, Sujak Rahman, and Liu Kang.

2. A B O U T T H I S C O U N T R Y
L ET ’ S F I N D O U T T O G ET H E R .
ABOUT INDONESIA
FACT 1: Indonesia is huge. It takes over 12 hours of flying time to get
from one end of the country to the other.
FACT 2: Of its 17 508 islands, only 6000 are inhabited by people.
FACT 3: Indonesia is home to thousands of different flora and fauna,
making it the country with the second highest level of biodiversity in
the world (Brazil is #1).
Some of the flora and fauna are truly rare, such as the Sumatran tiger,
the Javan rhinoceros, and the Rafflesia – the world’s largest flower.

3. A B O U T T H I S C O U N T R Y
L ET ’ S F I N D O U T T O G ET H E R .
ABOUT INDONESIA
FACT 4: Indonesian export involves the Asian palm civet and coffee
berries. These small, cat-sized mammals are fed coffee berries.
After they defecate, their feces is collected, washed, and used to
make kopi luwak. As a result, Kopi luwak is the world’s most expensive
beverage, costing around $1,000 per pound.
FACT 5: Indonesia is extremely culturally diverse. In fact, there are
over 300 ethnic groups in Indonesia, each with their own customs,
traditions, and dialects.
FACT 6: Although Bahasa Indonesia is the national language of
Indonesia, there are over 700 indigenous languages.

4. A B O U T T H I S C O U N T R Y
L ET ’ S F I N D O U T T O G ET H E R .
ABOUT INDONESIA
FACT 7: It is the world’s largest producer of palm oil.
FACT 8: Every day, the country experiences three vibrations and at least
one earthquake.
FACT 9: Indonesia is home to the world’s largest volcanic lake.
Lake Toba is situated in Sumatra is the site of a massive super-volcanic
eruption. It marks the largest known explosive eruption on Earth in
the last 25 million years.

6. TECHNIQUE
In short, parts of the cloth are blocked out by
drawing hot wax over them.
Then, the cloth is dyed.
The parts covered in wax resist the dye and
remain the original colour.
Process an be repeated to create more
elaborate and colourful designs.
After the final dyeing, the wax is removed and
the cloth is ready for wearing or showing.
PROCESS

7. TECHNIQUE
PROCESS
INITIAL PATTERN DRAWN WITH A PENCIL.
1. CLOTH IS WASHED.
2. CLOTH IS SOAKED AND BEATEN.
3. PATTERNS ARE DRAWN WITH PENCIL.
4. THEY ARE REDRAWN USING HOT WAX.
5. WAX CAN BE APPLIED
WITH DIFFERENT TOOLS.
6. CLOTH DRIED.
7. WAX RESIST IS REMOVED BY
SCRAPING OR BOILING THE CLOTH.
8. PROCESS IS REPEATED AS MANY
TYIMES THE NUMBER OF COLOURS
DESIRED.

8. Batik Making Tools

9. DRAWING PATTERNS WITH WAX
USING DJANTING/CANTING

10. APPLYING WAX USING CAP (COPPER
PLATE STAMPS).

11. EXAMPLE: CAP FOR
APPLYING HOT WAX.

12. DYEING THE
CLOTH IN COLOR.

14. SARKASI SAID
SARKASI BIN SAID (27 MARCH 1940,
SINGAPORE), WHO GOES BY THE ARTIST
NAME TZEE, IS A SINGAPOREAN BATIK
PAINTER OF INTERNATIONAL RENOWN.
THE ARTIST IS KNOWN FOR HIS
UNCONVENTIONAL USE OF A WAX-
RESISTING TECHNIQUE FOR BATIK
PAINTING, HIS BOLD USE OF COLOURS
AND HIS FREQUENT DEPICTIONS OF
NATURE.
IN MAY 2003, SARKASI'S 103M BATIK
PAINTING SET A GUINNESS WORLD
RECORD FOR THE WORLD'S LONGEST
BATIK PAINTING. RECENTLY HE CREATED A
DESIGN FOR THE EZLINK CARD.

15. SUJAK RAHMAN
HIS FIRST BATIK PIECE WAS EXCHANGED
FOR DIAMONDS IN THE MID-1970S.
MR SUJAK RAHMAN, THEN 26, WAS
DISPLAYING HIS ART AT AN EXHIBITION
ALONG ORCHARD ROAD, OUTSIDE
PRESENT-DAY WISMA ATRIA, WHEN HE
WAS APPROACHED BY A RUSSIAN
TOURIST WHO LIKED HIS PAINTING
TITLED TIGA WAJAH (THREE FACES).
THE ARTIST WAS INSPIRED BY FAMOUS
LOCAL BATIK ARTISTS SUCH AS CHOO
KENG KWANG AND SARKASI SAID.

16. LIU KANG
HE WAS BORN IN CHINA BUT CAME
TO SINGAPORE DURING 1930S.
INSPIRED BY HIS VISIT TO INDONESIA,
LIU KANG’S DARK OUTLINES BECAME
WHITE IN HIS ‘ARTIST AND MODEL’
WORK.
HE WENT TO BALI, INDONESIA WITH 2
OTHER ARTISTS AND CREATED MANY
WORKS BASED ON THAT VISIT.
HE PAINTED FIGURES AND SCENES
SIMILARLY FOUND IN BALI.

18. SO WHY BATIK?
LOVE FOR BATIK HAS
INSPIRED MANY FROM THE
REGION.
OUR SINGAPORE AIRLINES AIR
STEWARDESS WEARS THE
POPULAR PERANAKAN
SARONG KEBAYA WITH BATIK
DESIGN.
OUR SCHOOL UNIFORM IS
ALSO BATIK INSPIRED.
HANDMADE, WE CAN SEE THE
EVOLUTION OF BATIK FROM
ONE COUNTRY TO ANOTHER.