Dayaks, the indigenous people of Borneo, which is the largest island in Asia, were once known for their headhunting, animal sacrifices, ceremonial tattoos and warrior costumes.
But there is more to the Dayaks than these erstwhile practices. With about 50 ethnic groups and endemic languages, they have a rich heritage of art and culture not many are familiar with. To rectify that, Alena Murang, 32, a singer from Kuala Lumpur, has been showcasing the indigenous music of her community to the world.
Through her numerous singles and albums, such as Sky Songs and Flight, with tracks in Kelabit and Kenyah, the endangered tribal languages of Borneo, Murang continues to preserve and shine a light on the musical legacy of Sarawak, a state in Malaysian Borneo. She is the first professional female sape player and teacher in Malaysia.
Murang's sape plays the central character in her music video Warrior Spirit, while the drums and the guitar play a supporting role. Lilting and uplifting, you can get hooked on the music of the sape, as she and other dancers sway gracefully to the hornbill and warrior dance steps. The video went on to win Best Asia & Pacific Music Video, and received an Honourable Mention for Best Costume, at the UK's International Music Video Awards this year. It also bagged awards at the New York International Film Awards, Rome International Movie Awards and Los Angeles Film Awards.
Along with local band Estranged, Murang is now working on a documentary series, Roads to Our Heritage. The project aims to showcase the traditional instrument makers of the states of Sabah and Sarawak to the world. And judging by the popularity she has garnered in such a short time, it looks like she is on the right track.
A traditional lute, the sape is a musical instrument played by the Kenyah and Kelabit people who live in the longhouses of Sarawak. Being born to a Kelabit father and a half-English, half-Italian anthropologist mother ensured Murang stayed close to her Sarawakian roots as a child.
"My mother pushed me to learn our traditional dance at the cultural foundation when I was 6," Murang tells The National. "I learnt the basics of the different indigenous groups. When I turned 9, I left the cultural foundation and learnt dance from my Kelabit aunties along with my boy and girl cousins."
While the boys practised the warrior dance, the girls learnt to dance the hornbill – the curved-beak bird is the state symbol of Sarawak and is considered auspicious.
These fun-filled classes set the tone for Murang's sape journey. "There weren't many live sape players then who would play for us, and there was only one commercially available sape album by the late master Tusau Padan to practise to," says Murang. "It came out of a creative need – if we could play sape for our dances, we could change the rhythm, make the tracks longer or shorter."
The mothers of these children realised there was hardly anyone from Murang's generation playing the instrument. It was not accessible to girls. By the time Murang turned 11, she had stopped taking dance classes and focused on learning the sape.
Murang took classes from the famed Kenyah sape player Mathew Ngau Jau in Kuching, the Sarawak capital, until she finished high school. She then moved to the UK to study business management for five years. She took her saxophone, guitar and sape with her and played at events such as the Malaysia Nights and Malaysia Exhibition in London.
"I never thought it was possible to be a professional sape player then," she says.
After completing her education, she moved to Kuala Lumpur and took a job in management consulting for the sustainability sector, and then a visual arts course in Singapore. When she returned, she joined a world music band made up of her ex-colleagues from business management to play the sape on a six-week tour of the US in 2014. Murang noticed people were curious about the instrument as they had never seen one before. The tour turned out to be life-altering, and Murang found her calling.
"I realised people are interested in our music, and there is so much to share," she says. "When I was in the UK, I missed the Malaysian culture, the music, costumes and food. Being away from Sarawak in the US and the UK made me realise how special we are; our stories are, and how much people are interested."
By 2016, she became a full-time sape player and began to conduct classes in it, too.
Traditionally made from a single bole of wood, elaborate Dayak motifs adorn the stringed instrument. "A decade back, the contemporary six-stringed sape, played like a guitar, arrived on the musical scene," explains Murang. But she prefers strumming the four-stringed traditional sape with her thumb.
"The sape is easy to learn, but to master it, it takes about eight years. We don't learn with notes, as it is intuitive. In recent times people have developed a notation system, but you cannot notate it completely. It requires a lot of improvisations that cannot be taught and demands listening."
An instrumentalist until 2016, Murang also took to singing on various platforms in the past few years. "Back then, it was my aunties and my mother who pushed us [to learn] the traditional songs," she says. "I have been making an effort to learn different songs from different grand aunties."
Like her ancestors, Murang draws inspiration from various elements of nature – the sky, river, rain, wind, stars, moon and rainforests told through stories. Heavily doused with a feeling of yearning and doses of nostalgia, her songs take you to her home and her roots. The sape transcends in every track of hers as she narrates tales of her land.
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The biog
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Celebrities he worked on: Fabio Canavaro, Lojain Omran, RedOne, Saber Al Rabai.
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1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 281
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 247
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes 222
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A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
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The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
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The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
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- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
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Rating: 4/5
THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
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5pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (Dirt) 1,000m, Winner: Hazeem Al Raed, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ahmed Al Shemaili (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 85,000 (D) 1,000m, Winner: Ghazwan Al Khalediah, Hugo Lebouc, Helal Al Alawi
6pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,400m, Winner: Dinar Al Khalediah, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi.
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
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Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
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Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
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MATCH INFO
Europa League final
Marseille 0
Atletico Madrid 3
Greizmann (21', 49'), Gabi (89')
Day 1, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Dimuth Karunaratne had batted with plenty of pluck, and no little skill, in getting to within seven runs of a first-day century. Then, while he ran what he thought was a comfortable single to mid-on, his batting partner Dinesh Chandimal opted to stay at home. The opener was run out by the length of the pitch.
Stat of the day - 1 One six was hit on Day 1. The boundary was only breached 18 times in total over the course of the 90 overs. When it did arrive, the lone six was a thing of beauty, as Niroshan Dickwella effortlessly clipped Mohammed Amir over the square-leg boundary.
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
