Villagers Weave Giant Jalur Gemilang With Mengkuang Leaves

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Community chairman Nor Hassan (second from left) helping with the weaving of a giant Jalur Gemilang in Tanah Merah, Kelantan. (Bernama pic)KOTA BHARU: Villagers in Tanah Merah, Kelantan, have decided to usher in and celebrate National Day by coming together to weave a 35m-long Jalur Gemilang flag using mengkuang or screwpine leaves.
Kampung Bukit Kechik community chairman Nor Hassan, 62, said residents have been weaving the flag since July 28.
“To weave a Jalur Gemilang as large as this, the villagers organised a gotong-royong, with the men going into the jungle to look for mengkuang trees to harvest the leaves.
“After stripping the thorns off, the women will soften the leaves using hand-operated rubber rollers before leaving the leaves out to dry. This is to make the leaves easier to weave,” he told reporters here today.
He said he was proud of the strong cooperation between the villagers and that they were willing to go on rotation to complete the flag and beautify the village with flags decorating the houses.
Nor Hassan said that before the Covid-19 pandemic, villagers used to create the Jalur Gemilang using bamboo, coconut husks and rubber seeds obtained from around the village.
“This Jalur Gemilang mengkuang flag will be paraded on Aug 30 starting from the main road in the village before being exhibited at the Perpaduan Kindergarten accompanied by children dressed in flag patterns.
“The celebration will also be enlivened with the singing of the Negaraku, a dikir barat performance and talks about independence in the run-up to Aug 31,” he added. - FMT

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