#BBKS The art of leather crafting
Reservoir Dayak is a growing local business in Singapore. We met Izzat, the owner, last September, to film an upcoming episode of Barang Baik Kena Share.
We knew Reservoir Dayak was worth sharing to our followers. With the growing number of followers and thousands of viewers on their TikTok live videos, Izzat’s business in the leather crafting trade is gaining more traction. While Reservoir Dayak was not a small local business, we knew we had to share Izzat’s craft and business to a wider audience.
Izzat has been doing leather work for a decade now. Reservoir Dayak’s journey started back in 2011 during a trip to Thailand among friends. There, Izzat and his friends met an Uncle who had a leather crafting business by the side of the road with minimal tools. This inspired Izzat greatly.
"It was something I would like to try to do.”
Izzat returned to Singapore with a new-found passion. He was determined. He spent his time researching the art of leather crafting. From then on, the journey has been an experience full of trial and error.
After slowly gaining more knowledge on the craft, Izzat and his former business partner started small - their first workspace was at a void deck at Bedok Reservoir, where they were staying at. That had been the reasoning behind the ‘Reservoir’ in their name.
At the time, they did not have the proper workspace and were figuring out their business. Slowly, they started to get more and more orders. Equipped with the knowledge from local leather crafting masters such as Encik Rahmat from Jalan Keledek, gradually the two of them gain the confidence and skill set to pursue this craft even more.
After parting ways with his business partner, Izzat has since been handling Reservoir Dayak on his own - a one-man show, where he works from his new workspace located at Changi. All his works are hand-made, hand-stitched and hand-sewn and are strictly made to order. His quality tools are mostly from Japan and he agrees that there is a niche market for the leather crafts, as people are always looking to get a customised gift for their friends and family. That to him is one of the selling points, that the customer will appreciate something that is ‘designed’ by them.
We asked Izzat, if he could share a piece of advice for aspiring youths out there who are keen to start their own business, what would it be?
“If you want to start your own business, you need to have support. You have to prove to them, don’t do it half-heartedly. With the right intention, your business will succeed.”
“It’s not hard, but it’s not easy either. When you do it with passion, it shows and your customers will see it. This will attract them to buy. And having this passion is important. Some days, they go against you and some days, they are with you. If you do it in the name of Allah and with the right intentions, insya-Allah all will go smoothly,” Izzat shared with us.
Be sure to catch Izzat and Reservoir Dayak in Episode 4 of Barang Baik Kena Share to find out more about his crafts and business.