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IPMI International Business School
Amelia Naim Indrajaya
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Topi Bambu invited the community of artisans in Tangerang Regency to focus on producing fashionable bamboo hats with higher selling value to meet the market demand.
The community should not only use bamboo as the raw materials of the product, but the community was also invited to re-plant the bamboo for a sustainable supply.
Before the community was formed, bamboo craftsmen only made one product in the form of bamboo scout hats that gradually began to fade with the appearance of hat products from velvet material or more stylish fabric. Kang Agus invited the community to focus more on producing fashionable bamboo hats because fashion bamboo hats have their own uniqueness, using environmental friendly material and more added value without eliminating the local cultural value.
The achievement which Topi Bambu has made was a bamboo hat with a diameter of 2 meters and received an award from MURI ("Museum Rekor Dunia Indonesia") in August 2011. This has spurred the rise of bamboo hat which has begun to fade in Tangerang Regency. As part of creative economic development in Tangerang Regency, bamboo hats have become the mascot of KPU Tangerang Regency for the election of Regents and Vice Regents under the name "Si Tudung" in 2017. In this event, the Topi Bambu community made the record by producing 5,000 hats.
Speaking of the inspiration for Tangerang Bamboo Hat Craft, Kang Agus said that "Based on book of Pramodiya Ananta Toer, Bamboo Hat has been produced by Tangerang Regency since 1887. And in 1930, Tangerang Regency has exported bamboo hats to Europe and America". That's why one of the Tangerang Regency's logo is Bamboo Hat, due to its popularity at that time.
In Cikupa, Tangerang Regency, there are large bamboo gardens which became the basic material of bamboo hats. Unfortunately, this bamboo hat craft began to fade due to the declining export figures resulting from the changing fashion of the world market. Starting from his writing pleasure, Kang Agus who was a writer and a blogger, inspired to revive the bamboo hat craft again to become the icon of Tangerang Regency so Kang Agus formed a Topi Bambu community in 2011.
His philosophy is "Never forget to help people and be helpful to the community". He believes that by helping craftsmen to sell bamboo hats with his writing and marketing experience, now he became famous and has many connections to other business activists and government so he can develop and help more in the community.
In Tangerang, currently there are many centers of hats craftsmen located in 10 districts with over 10,000 people who work as craftsmen. The impact that people felt in the short term with the existence of the bamboo hat community is the increasing value of bamboo hats on the market by adding the fashion so it has improved the economy of the community in Tangerang Regency.
Kang Agus has the future goal, not only of creating more jobs by reviving the bamboo hat industry, but to also establish Tangerang Bamboo School to prevent the extinction of bamboo crafts by providing education, training and bamboo craftsmanship to the whole community.
By adding various kinds of fashion to bamboo hats, marketing through social media and internet technologies as well as product introduction at many events either in Indonesia and abroad, Topi Bambu community get many orders from customers who previously didn't know of these bamboo hat products.
Bamboo plants are not only sold in the form of raw material with low selling value, but can be converted into fashionable bamboo hat products with a much higher selling value.
Topi Bambu has given so many benefits to society and environment.
The existence of the Topi Bambu community not only improved the economy of the community in Tangerang Regency, but also have introduced to the society that bamboo material which is environmental friendly and can be converted into many various style of hat and have more added value.
Topi Bambu provide opportunites to the community, especially Tangerang Regency to empower the resources of bamboo plants and expertise in making bamboo crafts.
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Agus Hasanudin, Mr.
Bamboo is a plant that has a very fast growth rate, has a higher specific compressive strength than wood, brick, or concrete and is used for building materials, and a versatile raw product such as for crafting. Bamboo hat is one of the bamboo handicrafts that has become the hallmark of Tangerang Regency since the era of 1800 until early 1900.
"Topi Bambu" is a Bamboo Hat Craftsmen Community in Tangerang Regency which create and market various kinds of fashion bamboo hats. And the person behind the establishment of Topi Bambu in 2011 was Agus Hasanudin or often called Kang Agus. He invited the community to focus in producing fashion bamboo hat products, so not only to attract buyers in Indonesia but also receive orders for the international events in German, Holland and also Paris.