The Story Of A Bamboo Craftsman From NTT, Starting From Selling On The Sidewalk Now Participates In An Exhibition At The G20

Bamboo craftsman from NTT Markus Lina. (Photo: ANTARA)

LABUAN BAJO - Markus Lina (45) often throws a happy smile when welcoming everyone who approaches the exhibition booth at the Meruorah Hotel, Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).

In his stall lined with handicrafts made of bamboo, coffee, and ikat cloth.

Markus Lina (45) and a colleague were very enthusiastic about participating in the NTT micro, small and medium enterprise (UMKM) local product exhibition at the second meeting of the G20 Sherpa which took place from 9-13 July 2022.

He did not expect to be able to participate in the exhibition which was attended by important stakeholders or officials from various countries in the world.

For him, participating in an exhibition at the G20 is like a dream come true.

The local products on display are the works of MSME actors assisted by the Creative House of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) in Ngada Regency which are grouped into three categories, namely food, fashion, and handicrafts.

In addition to ikat and coffee, Markus Lina also presented other superior products, namely handicrafts from bamboo which were processed into various products such as glasses, necklaces, bracelets, lampshades, tissue holders, and other souvenir products.

His creativity in processing bamboo into various creative economy products has led him to struggle in the world of small-medium enterprises to participate in the Sherpa G20 exhibition.

Selling on the sidewalk

The initial journey of Markus Lina to build his business was not as easy as turning the palm of the hand.

The father of three children first introduced his product to the public in 2014 by selling on the sidewalks of Bajawa City.

He arrived at a momentum that was able to spur his enthusiasm for business, namely when he participated in a local level exhibition initiated by the Tourism and Creative Economy Office of the Ngada Regency Government.

At the exhibition, the bamboo lampshade product was able to confiscate the local regional head at that time who immediately bought up 150 pieces for Rp. 15 million.

"From there, an extraordinary spirit emerged in me to start creating products from bamboo," he said, quoted from Antara, Tuesday, July 12.

Bamboo is one of the potential plants that can be found in the plantations of the people of Ngada Regency and other areas on Flores Island.

In 2018, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) designated Ngada Regency as the center of excellence for the 1000 bamboo village program as a platform to develop and strengthen the use of bamboo in Indonesia through a community-based bamboo industry.

However, the plant which in Latin is called Bambusoideae has not been used optimally to generate economic benefits.

Local people mostly use bamboo as a building material for houses or huts, fences, and cattle pens.

Markus Lina used this condition to look at the potential of bamboo plants that can be developed into various products with higher selling value with a touch of handicraft creativity.

For him, the business of bamboo products is quite promising economically because in the local area there is no similar business run by other residents.

On the other hand, the supply of raw materials is very easy to obtain because they are produced on their own on the family's plantation land in Manubara Village, Inerie District.

In fact, when the demand for products increases, raw materials can also be supplied easily from other residents in the village.

The attractiveness of bamboo-based products really depends on how creative the craftsman is.

Realizing this, Markus Lina, who previously learned to process bamboo by autodidact, decided to increase his creativity by studying in Garut, West Java.

During a month there, he and three other residents who together with him run the business to this day, learned to produce various products from bamboo.

The bamboo business that is run through an MSME called Koeslin Bamboo Flores is now continuing to grow and has employed as many as 7 village youths who have no formal education or have dropped out of school.

Product requests also came, one of them from the NTT Regional National Crafts Council (Dekranasda) who ordered 100 glasses and a dozen bamboo tumblers.

Behind the economic impact that has been enjoyed, Markus Lina said that he was satisfied because he was able to raise one of Ngada's local potentials, namely bamboo, to be served to the public to the international level.

SOE Support

Markus Lina appeared presenting products at the Sherpa G20 exhibition thanks to the support of PT PLN (Persero) as one of the SOEs that has collaborated with him to manage the SOE Creative House in Ngada Regency since 2020.

Bamboo products from MSMEs Koeslin Bamboo Flores is one of three MSMEs that passed the curation of highly competitive products from PLN to participate in an exhibition with dozens of other MSMEs at the second G20 meeting in Labuan Bajo.

Two other MSME products that passed the curation were ikat weaving from MSME Indigo Ikat and MSME Papataki which sold processed Arabica coffee.

The three MSMEs have been collaborating with PLN in business development and assistance since 2021.

PLN President Director Darmawan Prasodjo said the G20 Sherpa was an important momentum for MSMEs to introduce Indonesian products to the international market.

PLN is trying to prove that the state-owned company is only reliable in providing electricity supply, but also provides support for the community to be independent in the economy.

"So this is a special opportunity for local MSMEs in NTT, especially since the G20 Sherpa delegates are economic actors from various countries," he said.

Markus Lina and other MSME players should be proud because they had the best opportunity to introduce products to delegates from 19 G20 member countries who were present in person (one country was virtual, namely the United States), 9 invited countries, and 10 international organizations in Labuan Bajo.

The variety of local products that are served should also prove the diversity of the archipelago's wealth which should be introduced to increase the attractiveness of Indonesia in the eyes of the world.