Three years back, Shafayet Ahmed ordered wooden furniture worth Tk 1.5 lakh to decorate his new office with sitting arrangement for nearly 25 people.
Desks, chairs and cabinets with drawers were the main items on the list then. In addition, the vendor had given him a few pieces of wooden handicrafts, including paperweights, pen and card holders and ashtrays for free.
This year I needed furniture for another 15-20 people, as part of an expansion plan. I went to the same furnisher, thinking that like the last time, I would get delivery of the goods on time, not to question the high quality of the furniture, said Ahmed.
This time the shop owner refused politely. He said supplying the same furniture at similar costs would not be possible now, as the prices of seasoned timber, that is, price per cubic foot (cft) and the carpentry costs have doubled by this time, added Ahmed.
Many of his acquaintances advised Ahmed to go for alternatives, such as plastic or a mix of glass and other artificial materials. But Ahmed's preferred choice was wooden furniture.
I think the elegant quality and durability of wooden furniture still make it the top choice whenever people go for buying home or office furniture. One can't afford to spend a lot of money to replace furniture every now and then, said the chief of an IT firm.
You have a few options in hand -- wood or wrought iron. But considering aesthetic aspects, when you are mentally ready to spend a little more, you can't go beyond wooden stuff.
Ahmed is just one of thousands, if not more, who still believe that the glory of wooden furniture would not fade so soon although furniture materials were increasingly replaced by plastic, glass and artificial timber products in the past decade.
However, it is an interesting situation that the demand for wooden home furniture is declining, but the total volume of sales of wooden products is growing because of its demand in the corporate sector, said industry insiders.
There's still no alternative to wood, when it comes to making doors and door frames, and furnishing an office. One of the main reasons behind this is that people prefer wood to wrought iron, because of comfort and longevity and of course, the elegant looks, said KM Akhteruzzaman, president of Bangladesh Furniture Industries Owners Association.
These days, big corporations and business houses are building huge offices, where glass, aluminium and steel materials have replaced wooden door frames and window frames. But the ever growing corporate sector's orders for wooden office furniture have increased the sales volume, he explained.
Another trend has been noticed with the increasing use of branded furniture mainly since the 1990s, when local brands began to achieve a certain level of trust among the entrepreneurs who go for renovation and expansion of their businesses, he said.
At present, the size of the local furniture sector stands at around Tk 7,000 crore, said insiders.
To cater to these varied needs and trends, furniture makers keep products of various qualities and raw materials. Also, different groups of clients experience variations of local and imported goods and make their choices freely.
Generally, timber is used in manufacturing outdoor furniture, boat decks and other articles where weather resistance is necessary. It is also used for indoor flooring and as a veneer for indoor furnishings.
Of various timber types -- low and high cost -- teak has natural oils that make it suitable for use in exposed locations, where it is durable even when not treated with oil or varnish. Teak-cut from matured trees grown slowly in natural forests is more durable and harder, while teak from young trees grown in plantations is more prone to splitting and water damage.
However, the demand for imported teak is still high among the careful buyers, said insiders.
The reason for this is the fast depletion of our local teak everyday. The supply of timber from teak, especially of chapalish, garjon, gamari and many other varieties from Rangamati, Chittagong, Bandarban and Sylhet forests, has almost stopped for years, said Mohammad Bazlul Karim, secretary of the Mirpur unit of Bangladesh Furniture Owners Association (BFOA).
Now, the price of a cft of Burma teak, the most preferred teak, ranges from Tk 3,000 to Tk 7,000, while Chittagong teak, popularly known as shegun from Chittagong Hill Tracts, costs Tk 2,000-Tk 4,000 in the local market.
Oak and mahogany are also preferred for making cabinets and drawers. The prices of each cft of oak range from Tk 2,000 to Tk 3,000 and those of mahogany between Tk 1,500 and Tk 2,500, said the insiders.
As our local sources are not capable of meeting the demand, we have to import timber. Supply shortage is another reason for the soaring prices of timber such as teak, the most favoured one, Karim said.
The shortage has been caused by the restrictions imposed on felling young tree resources in Bangladesh for the country's declining forest resources. This shortfall has been traditionally met by imports from Myanmar and Malaysia.
The recent restriction on raw timber export by the Malaysian government has also hit the imports hard, while the cost of the Myanmar teak is too high for the Bangladeshi buyers.
These factors have forced local importers to look to the African and Latin American countries to ensure an improved supply, which they hope will help contain the present price rise.
Apart from traditional sources, such as Myanmar and Malaysia, the importers and wooden furniture makers are now sourcing timber from Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Ecuador.
I have started importing from Ivory Coast due to the high prices of the Myanmar teak. I am planning to import from Nigeria as well, said Karim of BFOA.
We are looking for the best possible sources. Any country we find helpful for our import would do, he said.
Nevertheless, the local business is growing. Bangladesh earned $19.26 million from exports of wooden furniture in fiscal 2009-10, shows Export Promotion Bureau data.
The sector's contribution to GDP (gross domestic product) is 0.29 percent on average, while the industry is comprised of around 41,560 enterprises and employs nearly two lakh skilled and semi-skilled people.
At present, the top local furniture makers are -- Otobi, Akhtar, Hatil, Brothers, Partex, Navana and Furnitec. Mirpur Furniture Market is the largest in the country.
sayeda@thedailystar.net
Source: www.thedailystar.net
Furniture Manufacturing & Supply China Comes to Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center, 11 … - Yahoo Finance
SHANGHAI, May 21, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Furniture Manufacturing & Supply China 2012 ("FMC China 2012") will be staged at the Shanghai Expo Exhibition & Convention Centre (SWEECC) from 11 to 14 September, concurrently with FMC Premium 2012.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120521/CN08285-a)
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120521/CN08285-b)
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120410/CN80129-c)
This year, FMC China 2012 will be held in Hall 4 and exhibit furniture fabrics, leather and cloth art. The total exhibition area will be 71,000 sq m, the largest ever.
Meanwhile, FMC China 2012 will connect with Furniture China 2012, one of the biggest furniture shows in the world, to be held in the Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC), creating a one-stop platform for furniture design, manufacturing and purchasing.
Six Overseas Purchasing Groups with Professional Associations and Delegations
Purchasing groups from Vietnam, India, Mexico, Turkey, Russia and Indonesia will bring 30 - 40 furniture manufacturers and local woodworking dealers respectively to FMC China 2012 to visit related enterprises and factories. The Taiwan Woodworking Machinery Association (TWMA) will bring its members to participate in FMC China 2012 to show visitors the latest product technology.
Convenient Transport with Free Shuttle Bus, Metro Line 7 and Taxi
Based on last year's experience, the organiser has arranged more convenient transport for visitors. As the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center has become more familiar, visitors will be easily to transport between the two venues.
- Free shuttle bus between SNIEC and SWEECC (every five minutes)
- Metro Line 7 connects SNIEC and SWEECC from Yaohua Road to Huamu Road.
- 30 minute drive from SNIEC to SWEECC
2012 First World Health Sleep (Mattress) Conference
The 2012 First World Health Sleep (Mattress) Conference will be held at the Shanghai World Expo Convention Center on 12 September 2012. Domestic and overseas industry associations, professional economists, senior industry analysts and researchers, famous software furniture manufacturers and industry media will be invited.
The conference aims to promote industrial upgrading, accelerate the promotion of technological innovation, and advocate energy conservation and the development of green industry. It is also a communication platform to promote close cooperation of industry people, which helps people gain a detailed understanding of industry developments, successfully cope with the international environment changes, and provide new strategies to support the accelerated development of the mattress industry.
Concurrently with Furniture China 2012
Furniture China 2012 will be held from 11 to 15 September this year. Furniture China 2012 will use new Halls N1 - N4, thus 600 more new furniture manufacturers as exhibitors will participate, bringing the total number of exhibitors to 3,000.
Detailed Classification with Professional Quality
Most famous industry companies are participating FMC China 20112. FMC is the best trade platform in the field of woodworking machinery.
Woodworking Machinery & Tools (Hall 1) – Homag（1N01/1H01), Shanghai Chaolun（1P01), Weinig（1H25), Leitz（1F27), SCM（1P15), Yuetong（1G15), Nanxin（1N15), etc.
Office Furniture Supplies & Gas Springs (Hall 2) – Hangzhou Zhongtai（2U01), Zhejiang Zhongyi（2V01), Anhui Laite（2T01), Zhongwei（2T09), Ruixin（2V09), etc.
Furniture Coatings & Chemicals (Hall 2) – Beijing Shiquanxin (2P17), Nanpao Resin (2M02), Haining Changsheng (2Q29), Foshan Tonren Adhesive (2M01), Foshan Unouite (2M01A), Shanghai Fuchen (2P01), Jinpinguo (2Q30). Shanghai Carpoly Paint and Huarun both have expressed their intention to participate.
FMC Premium 2012 (Hall 2) – Jiangsu Yuhui (2J01), Legget & Platt (2E01), Frenchtimber (2H02-2H10), Okin (2G01), Taizhou Chenguang (2G15), Yihuang (2L09), Aoda (2E15), Huali (2J15), Kingdecor & Dupont (2F01), State of North Carolina (2B15-2B33) and Pennsylvania (2A15) hardwood pavilions.
Upholstery Furniture Components & Supplies (Hall 3) – Xiaoshan Meixin (3D01), Tongxiang Aumerry (3D45), Foshan Chamay (3D59), Dongguan Blw (3E01), Changzhou Regal (3C07), Wenzhou Zhulian (3C09), Zhejiang Feili (3C37), Jiaxing Taien (3B15), Wenzhou Yikang (3B17), etc.
Cabinet & Wardrobe Fittings / Furniture Lighting – Includes the world's leading hardware companies, Hettich and Blum, which are participating in FMC again after an absence of nearly seven years. Luen Yick leads the development prospects of the furniture lighting.
Furniture Hardware & Fittings / Furniture Inspection (Hall 3) – The exhibition area has increased by 15%; Robby (3U45), Lusterful（3U39), Weihua（3T17), Zhuokai（3T01), Shenfei（3S17), Weihong（3S15), Meaton (3U47), Hyderon（3T15), Hengjun（3T09, Boltotto（3Q01), Global Gas Spring（3Q47), SGS（3Q45), etc.
Furniture Panels & Surface Deco (Hall 3) – The exhibition area has increased by 55%, in which Xiongyi has booked 99 square metres. Changzhou Weixing (3L07), Xiamen C&D (3G41), Heibei Ams (3G01), Shandong Farrandly (3G37) and Shanghai Yirui (3K07) are all participating.
Furniture Fabrics China Exhibition (Hall 4) – Hangzhou Nanbo (4B40), Hangzhou Wintex (4B41), Wuxi Zhongsi (4C50), Ji Sheng Leather (4C75), Hangzhou Tianye (4D22), Hangzhou Hongda (4D40), Tongxiang Xincheng (4F07), Tongxiang Xin Baisheng(4F06), Minglang Leather (4C75), Current Textile (4C49), Hangzhou Dongya Textile (4C55), Hangzhou Fangzheng Weaving (4D47). In addition, Haining textile group and Turkey group are being organised to attend the exhibition.
Asia Start International Furniture Materials Trading Centre – The exhibition area is expected to be 755 square metres and 60 companies will take part.
Design of Designers – China International Design Trading Expo
A brand new platform, "Design of Designers", will be formed this year at Hall 4 of the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center. The work of the 2011 Golden Axe Award's winner, which is the most recommended and highest level competition in the Chinese furniture industry, will be showcased as well. The audience will be able to come in contact with many works designed by all kinds of talented designers that are tagged with "HOME". There will be fascinating design forums, presentations and relevant events presented at the same time.
FMC China 2012 On-site Events Launched
Various professional and interactive activities are going to be held during the exhibition. Your participation is welcome.
FMC New Products, New Technologies & New Materials Display
In order to increase interaction between the two venues, attract more Furniture China exhibitors, let more trade buyers know about FMC highlights, and to help more exhibitors promote their latest technologies and products, FMC China 2012 will open 17 booths of 20 square meters each to show New Products & Technology at Furniture China 2012 at the Shanghai New International Expo Center from 11 to 14 September 2012. Accompanied by creative booth design and special interactive events, the showcase will catch wide attention from insiders and trade buyers. Meanwhile, the showcase will provide FMC exhibitors an exchange platform to get more business opportunities and attract over 3,000 exhibitors and 100,000 trade buyers' attention.
FMC China 2012 Technical Seminars
In order to gain investment opportunities, promote industrial development and product upgrades, enhance industrial competitiveness and improve marketing capabilities, FMC provides a distribution platform of new products and invites main industry media as well as domestic and overseas exhibitors to hold professional technical seminars for three days.
On-site Media Interviews
The organiser will set up a Press Centre especially for the media's on-site face to face interviews with exhibitors, building a communications platform to disseminate the latest information about new products and technologies.
Exhibitors On-site Product Demonstrations
Exhibitors will introduce their products by special promotion methods on-site to attract more visitor attention.
Furniture Exhibitors' Exclusive Day
By applying before FMC exhibition, participants will receive warm tips of events schedule before visiting. A shuttle bus is especially arranged for participants. A bilingual tour guide will show participants all of the exciting hot spots at FMC.
Source: finance.yahoo.com
Zuma's racist painting: Time for the ANC leadership to wake up! - New Zimbabwe.com
WHAT on earth is going on in South Africa and what does it tell the rest of the continent about the state of the African in that country?
Make no mistake about it, and this is quite sad, but the time has come for black Africans to understand and do something about the tragic fact that while South Africa’s de jure leadership is black, the de facto control of that country is a white minority which owns and runs the economy, the judiciary and the media, all which are racist to the core.
The uncomfortable bottomline is that South Africa is a white-controlled black country and the dysfunctional consequences of this tragedy are yet to fully play out with very worrying signs everywhere that all hell is about to break loose.
It is a shame that the white minority which has de facto control of South Africa is taking full advantage without let or hindrance of self-serving and false claims to human rights, governance and anti-corruption in the false name of international law not only to halt but also to reverse the gains that black South Africans made in 1994 when democracy was allegedly won or achieved in that troubled country.
While this is bad enough, what is worse is that the same self-indulgent white minority whose numbers include die-hard racists who converged in South Africa from fallen white settler regimes in Rhodesia, Portuguese Mozambique and Angola and South West Africa (now Namibia) are using their new apartheid base through organisations such as Afriforum and the so-called Southern African Litigation Centre to reverse the gains of liberation throughout Southern Africa under the cover of phoney claims to human rights and good governance.
So it is that as Africans at home and in the Diaspora celebrated the 2012 edition of Africa Day, there was utter mayhem triggered by the display in the vulgar name of art and corrupt freedom of expression at some racist gallery and the website of a racist newspaper of a pathetic painting of President Zuma with his genitals exposed styled as a spear.
It is frankly staggering to imagine, let alone to think, that this mayhem unfolded as it is still unfolding in the one country whose black leadership never lose a moment to pretend that it should by entitlement lead the rest of Africa and that it has the solutions to all African problems ostensibly because its country has the biggest economy on the continent on the basis of which South Africa’s black leadership is seeking a permanent seat at the outdated and increasingly irrelevant UN’s Security Council and on the basis of which the same leadership is hoping, with customary Sadc support, its respected and quite able former minister of foreign affairs now in charge of home affairs — Nkosazana
Zuma — should be elected at the forthcoming AU summit in Malawi in July as the continental body’s next chairperson to replace the widely unpopular Jean Ping whose treachery in favour of Europe — especially France — against Africa has mobilised critical votes against him beyond recovery.
There’s no need to waste time belabouring the question whether the patently offensive and unAfrican phallic painting of President Zuma constitutes acceptable artistic expression or is defendable as freedom of expression.
Those among us who have invoked artistic expression of freedom of expression to defend that painting are either racists who know exactly what they are saying against African leadership and the human dignity of Africans or are just Uncle Toms who do not know what they are saying in the vain hope of winning praise and acceptance from the very same white racists who are behind the offensive painting.
The fact of the matter is that self-righteous whites in South Africa would be outraged beyond description if a painting of Helen Zille, the racist leader of the DA, were to be done by a black artist and depicted in the pose of the late celebrated American prostitute — Linda Lovelace — with Zille’s genitals fully exposed and captioned “Fight back like Deepthroat”.
While pundits in South Africa who are clear victims of apartheid propaganda can continue fooling themselves about the offensive Zuma painting under a false discourse about artistic expression and freedom of expression, Africans around the world who celebrated Africa Day last Friday know only too well that the real issue in South Africa is about who controls what and therefore who shall govern on the basis of what they control.
There’s an urgent need to unpack, understand and to do something about the tragedy that is unfolding in South Africa’s tragic governance whose implications are far-reaching for the African state.
It is a common cause that the colonial state in Africa immediately reproduced itself through neo-colonialism through which Western imperialists took control of the economies of the newly independent states during decolonisation.
The neo-colonial idea was that independence meant the Africans would control their politics while the commanding heights of the economy remained in the white hands of imperialists.
While this neo-colonial façade appeared to be the case in countries that did not have white settler communities such as are found in the Southern African countries of Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, Namibia and especially South Africa whose white population numbers some astounding millions, the post-apartheid situation with regard to the balance of forces that have now emerged clearly show that there’s something new and dangerous about neo-colonialism which for want of a better term is best described as post-neo-colonialism.
Whereas neo-colonialism sought to hijack the control of the economy from black independence, the essence of post-neo-colonialism that is best characterised by the tragedy that is unfolding in South Africa highlighted by the offensive Zuma painting is to hijack not only the economy from black independence but also to hijack the entire political landscape of black independence by controlling and subjugating the politics of black majority rule through the manipulative instruments of the judiciary, the media and the economy dominated under the guise of artistic expression, freedom of expression, human rights, good governance and anti-corruption driven by the very same white minority that was supposed to have been deposed by the independence struggle with the assistance of the so-called international community.
The dynamics of the post-neo-colonial state are particularly pronounced in the Southern African countries that had entrenched white settler communities but they are not limited to these countries as the evidence of post-neo-colonial politics is now palpable, for example in Malawi where that country’s sovereignty is taking quite some battering following the as-yet-unexplained demise of President Bingu wa Mutharika under very controversial circumstances that are now the subject of an official inquiry ordered by President Joyce Banda.
But back to the mayhem in South Africa caused by the offensive and totally unacceptable display of the phallic painting of President Zuma which injured his human dignity and that of all Africans, it was instructive to note that the South African state under its black leadership was left clueless about what to do. In the end the ANC resorted to court action whose consequence was not only to further embarrass President Zuma but also to confirm who, in fact, is in charge of Azania otherwise known as South Africa.
In the first place the court obviously controlled by the white minority took its sweet time to set down the hearing of the matter which had been filed on an urgent basis. Then the court, presided over by white judges who had no difficulty showing their sympathy for the offending painter, Brett Murray, who hides his shocking racism under the silly claim that he is a satirical artist who used to be but is no longer a supporter of the ANC, made it clear that it did not understand how the painting could be said to be racist and that in any case banning it would be difficult because “the image is already out there on the internet”.
Strangely but tellingly the same court did not have any qualms about ordering a belated international blackout of the footage showing the ANC lawyer — Gcina Malindi — in a sea of tears in response to some racist questioning by the presiding judge Claasen when the fact is that the court proceedings were being screened live and could not be blocked after the fact.
It was telling that Judge Claasen found it easy well after the fact to black out a live broadcast of a black lawyer he cruelly made to weep with racist questioning in order to protect himself but he did not find it within him to interdict the offensive phallic painting of President Zuma because the judge was clearly part of the post-neo-colonial control of African politics by abusing the law to humiliate African leaders in the hope of breaking the African spirit for freedom with dignity.
Africans following the latest court battle in South Africa over Zuma’s dehumanising painting have been comparing the case with that of the former president of ANC youth league, Julius Malema, whose singing of a liberation song “shoot the Boer” was said to be “incitement to murder” by a white judge, Leon Halgryn, who in a case brought before him by a racist NGO called Afriforum astonishingly ruled that “the publication and chanting of the words ‘dubula ibhunu’ prima facie satisfies the crime of incitement to murder”.
The substance of the political message from Judge Halgryn in the Malema “dubula ibhunu’’ case is not different from that of Judge Claasen in the case of President Zuma’s offensive painting, save for the obvious double standard rooted in the new racism that clearly poses a serious, clear and present danger to South Africa’s so-called 1994 democracy which is not the same as independence.
But where is all this coming from and where is it going?
On May 29 1998, then South Africa’s Deputy President Thabo Mbeki made a seminal “two-nations speech” at the opening debate in Parliament in Cape Town entitled “Reconciliation and Nation Building” in which he said “we therefore make bold to say that South Africa is a country of two nations.
One of these nations is white, relatively prosperous, regardless of gender or geographic dispersal.
It has ready access to a developed economic, physical, educational, communication and other infrastructure. This enables it to argue that, except for the persistence of gender discrimination against women, all members of this nation have the possibility to exercise their rights to equal opportunity, the development opportunities to which the Constitution of ’93 committed our country.
The second and larger nation of South Africa is black and poor, with the worst affected being women in the rural areas, the black rural population in general and the disabled. This nation lives under the conditions of a grossly under-developed economic, physical, educational, communication and other infrastructure.
It has virtually no possibility to exercise what in reality amounts to a theoretical right to equal opportunity, with that right being equal within this black nation only to the extent that it is equally incapable of realisation.
The reality of two nations, underwritten by the perpetuation of the racial, gender, and spatial disparities born of a very long period of colonial and apartheid white minority domination, constitutes the material base which reinforces the notion that, indeed, we are not one nation, but two nations. And neither are we becoming one nation. Consequently, also, the objective of national reconciliation is not being realised”.
Nothing has better dramatised South Africa’s two nations than Brett Murray’s phallic painting of President Zuma and the reaction to it from South Africa’s white-controlled media, judiciary and business community run by white racists who apparently think their prejudices are equal to artistic expression and freedom of expression. God help South Africa.
Professor Jonathan Moyo is MP for Tsholotsho North (Zanu PF)
Source: www.newzimbabwe.com
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