In championing the timeless allure of Batik, Oniatta Effendi discovers an inexhaustible wellspring of joy

Stepping into the hushed silence of Galeri Tokokita, located in a conservation shophouse within Kampong Glam, is such a balm for the soul. Beyond a retail shopfront for handmade batik wear label Baju by Oniatta, this serene sanctuary decorated with the evocative art of Nusantara (a historic term for the Malay archipelago) is the brainchild of Oniatta Effendi, who established it as a community-centric space for the appreciation of this historic art form.

In her loft-style office overlooking North Bridge Road, Oniatta spent the next hour detailing the fascinating journey she took to grow her clothing brand into a flourishing cultural enterprise — from a weekend hobby founded in 2016 with its first collection of 12 pairs of pants to a brick-and-mortar business that has proudly flown the Singapore flag in places as far away as London and Paris.

“I wasn’t entirely sure what I was in for,” admits Oniatta, who took the brave step of giving up her 21-year career in tertiary education in 2019 to take the plunge as a full-time entrepreneur. And yet, despite the multiple challenges thrown at her, whether in her capacity as a mother of five, a caregiver to elderly parents, or a start-up founder battling the Covid-19 slump, she thrived.?

Sustaining Oniatta, a Singaporean with Javanese ancestry, is a strong purpose tied to her identity: “I consider myself a child of Nusantara and grew up with batik all around me." (Read the rest of the story here)