Bibah's Story

After graduating in 1975, Bibah was employed as a designer at Malaysian Handicrafts in Terengganu, acclaimed as the home of finest woven songket. Two years later, she join her husband in managing the Malaysian Handicraft centre in East Malaysia, in the state of Sarawak, where she came in contact with another weaving technique - the pua kumbu.

What impresses Bibah most as far as the pua kumbu is concerned, is the incorporation of warp ikat, tie-dyed pua in which the threads of the two weft have been tied together for the dyeing process, reflecting mirror image patterns. Such high fascination it was that when Bibah began using this weft technique, it was a revolution in the craft of songket weaving.

In 1982, with the breadth of experience over the years, Bibah started her own songket enterprise called "Bibah Songket" at her residence in Chendering, Kuala Terengganu. From there, her passion continues to fuel her creation of masterpiece songket as if it were fine art, and her dedication has not gone unrecognised. Bibah was given the commission to produce songket sarongs as gifts for Britain's Queen Elizabeth during the Head of Commonwealth Conference at Langkawi in 1989. The recipients of many songket design awards, including the award trophy in the Biennial Wicitra Competition in 1984 organised by Malaysian Handicrafts and the Best Textile in Traditional Design category in the same year that was held in Jakarta, Indonesia, her songket today graces the interior of Mutiara Hotel Kuala Lumpur, Istana Melawati, Menera Tun Razak, Shangrila Hotel in Putrajaya, and Petronas University, just to name a few.