Rosmah Mansor, the prime minister’s wife, has mooted that all workers wear batik to work on Thursdays.

She pointed out that in an effort to promote the batik industry, it was first important to create a demand for it.

“Currently, only Malaysian government officers have been encouraged to wear batik to work every Thursday.

“I now call upon all government-linked companies (GLCs) and private sector employers to also urge their staff to wear batik to work on Thursdays,” said Rosmah.

She made the call when launching the national crafts day celebrations in Kuala Lumpur today.

Malaysia's 462 GLCs, she added, currently have around 100,000 staff.

“Imagine how much more demand there will be for batik products. This will help in expanding the local batik industry,” she said.

Rosmah added that she had the opportunity to promote batik and songket in iconic fashion cities such as Paris and Milan.

“Last year, in conjunction with Milano World Expo, a runway show was held to showcase the uniqueness and beauty of batik and songket.

“The event was attended by famous designers, fashion editors and those involved in the fashion industry,” she said, adding that the event had generated “huge success”.

Rosmah last year opened the Milano World Expo held at the fashion city. Some 17 Malaysian designers took part in the five-day event.

Meanwhile, Rosmah lauded the initiative taken by Kraftangan Malaysia in ensuring the quality of batik production, through the introduction of Standard Malaysia MS 692:2007.

“The same quality standard is also applied to the productions of songket and tenun,” she said, adding that 51 batik entrepreneurs have obtained the Standard Malaysia.