WWW. jatimber. com
Buyers! Are you buying in the right area? I ask the question because a recession is looming over much of the world market and your buying techniques are going to have to be on the button if you are going to ride out the ensuing slump in trade and keep on making a living. If you are buying in Indonesia already are you buying at the factory and getting the best price? Do you know that a lot of the products you have been buying in the temptingly pleasant surroundings of Bali (for instance) come from Java? I daresay you know that, but with margins being the way they have been for the last ten years or more it has hardly mattered. It will matter very much soon.
Jepara and Yogya are where the furniture comes from. Muntilan near Borobodur has been producing stone carving since the days of the Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms around 700 CE and earlier. The Influx and influence of Islam was brought about by trade; not warfare. Traders into Java brought the new religion and it syncretised with the existing ones so that the underlying beliefs and culture of Java are a colourful and eclectic mix. In our village Muslims marry Christians. Many families have a multi-faith make-up that is hard to find in multi-cultural Europe.
It is in Java that the small manufacturers, and the large, are working on furniture, crafts, art, furnishings, stone sculptures. Here the art of Handwritten Batik (Tulis) is not only used to decorate fine silk and cotton but also placed on wooden furniture. There is a whole village close to Yogya, near the village of Kasongan where the pottery industry is located, given over to this wonderful skill. You will have seen such stuff and seen the furniture and inspected the pottery in pleasant galleries and stores in the well known buyer's traps that are usually located in the most polished and genteel surroundings. But has it never ocurred to you that the products must have moved several times to get there? Movement is money. Genteelity is nice but it is costly. You are paying out money in the middle that you do not need to pay; and for how much longer can you afford to pay it?
Yogya, Jepara, Semarang, and Surabaya are all modern cities. Surabaya and Semarang are deep-water ports. Ship from there and buy local to the port, direct from the factory. That is what the traders of old did. They did not go to a tourist resort and buy stuff that had already been imported and then move it back to where it came from to ship it home. They were not that daft. They could not afford to be that daft; and can you really afford to be daft when the black clouds of recession are gathering?
You can find as much hedonism for your relaxing time as you wish here in Java. Eat a better and more varied menu from a wider range of restaurants than any small resort can provide. Be amongst the most friendly helpful people in these islands. Don't be timid, broaden your horizons; learn and profit from your learning.
Visit jatimber. Com and see if we can supply. We can then introduce you to the wider market and help you deal direct with the factories at a minimum cost. We won't hang around. Buy from us if we have what you want, or deal with our associates. Once you are operating happily here we buzz off. We put you in touch; direct.
Sri Wurjani
Jatimber. Com. Owner.