AS the government is slowly coming round to the idea of making it mandatory for people to wear face masks or face coverings while shopping, we headed out to the streets of London armed with more than a handful of Malaysian batik face masks to distribute to the public.
Batik face masks from Malaysia and those from neighbouring countries, one must admit, are colourful with beautiful designs, much needed not only to help in slowing down the spread of the coronavirus, but also to lighten the mood and lift the spirit during the pandemic, which has already robbed us of six months of 2020.
From the start of the lockdown in the United Kingdom on March 23, an idea started forming in my head about how I would fill my time and preserve my sanity.
That idea took the shape of headbands, which quickly morphed into face masks.
I rummaged through the cupboards and encouraged family and friends to do so and part with their precious batik materials bought with good and grand intentions only to be stored in suitcases under the bed.
The same fate had befallen some batik materials that I had bought at a marketplace in Kuching during a reunion with friends four years ago.
Some parted with their pre-loved duvet covers and bedsheets, much needed as lining.
After boiling them and letting them dry in the summer sun, I took to YouTube to guide me in face mask and headband making.
It soon became an addiction as the headbands were well received by nurses and midwives at King's College Hospital in London, who used them to hook elastics from their hospital face masks that usually cause sores behind the ears.
Then a friend helped to distribute my face masks to the Somali and Afghan women community in Slough, prompting people to stop and ask them where they got them from.
It was such a nice surprise to learn that the Sarawak batik with Dayak motifs that I had bought in four colours had people stopping in their tracks to show their interest.
With parcels of batik materials coming through the letter box from well-wishers and Tourism Malaysia London, the thought of promoting Malaysian batik at a gloomy time like this doesn't seem too bad.
So, spurred on by the interest and getting reacquainted with a long-forgotten skill, the borrowed sewing machine on the dining table has actually not stopped whirring.
The magic of batik, whether traditional or modern, is mesmerising and almost bewitching as they take shapes of the face mask or headband.
Friends who bought my face masks and headbands to support and fund elastic, threads and interface that I used, sent pictures of them donning them on and that would please me no end.
After contributing to the blooming of a friend's face mask tree in south London some weeks ago, I teamed up with Haliza Hashim of TV3 in an unusual but exciting collaboration, this time not as two journalists, but me as the face mask maker and she as chairperson of Mercy Malaysia UK (MMUK), with the common aim to reach out to those who need reusable face masks.
With some colourful and stunning designs, we headed off to Portobello Market which is fast stirring back to life as the government eases the lockdown.
Makan Cafe proprietor Azhar Kamaruddin had kindly allowed us to place our face mask plants on his juice bar with a collection tin for those who wanted to donate to MMUK's good cause.
Some face masks have already made their way to some hospitals in the midlands.
I have lost count of the number of face masks that I have made — all the time hearing my late grandmother's voice admonishing me for any sloppy stitch.
She had been a good mentor, even though the air would turn blue sometimes when stitches go wonky.
If anyone had asked me what Covid-19 had done to me, without hesitation, I would say, it has taught me a lot of patience while stitching and unpicking of errors — just as what we would do with life.
You just don't throw away something just because we made a mistake. You unpick, repair, patch it up and make it good again.
It's the same with the pandemic — there's reflections and lessons to be learnt and then we carry on.
When this is all over, God willing, I will look back with great fondness at this chapter in my life when I became a face mask maker and did my bit to reach out to the community and at the same time introduce our beautiful batik to the British public.