Former semi-nomadic Penans are stars in sape classics

By Simon Peter

KUCHING, Oct 22, 2015  -Out from the deep tropical rainforests in Belaga, former semi-nomadic Penan brothers Kuit and Laing anak Kilah were an instant hit with their mastery of "sape" classical musics.

They are now going places, performing at official functions attended by state ministers and other high ranking government officials.

 

Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem (centre) receiving a CD loaded with sape classical musics from Sarawak Energy Berhad group chief executive officer Datuk Torstein Dale Sjotveit as Munan Epui (left), Kuit Laing and Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang (2nd right) look on.

  

Their mastery of the sape classical musics caught of the eyes and ears of the staffers of the Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) who decided to adopt them and promote their classical musics in the form of album.

With a Kayan man Munan Epui from Sungai Asap as a third member, they have formed a formidable sape band group.

Sape is a traditional lute of many of the Orang Ulu or "upriver people", who live in the longhouses that line the rivers of Central Borneo.

Sapes are carved from a single bole of wood, with many modern instruments reaching over a metre in length.

Technically, the sape is a relatively simple instrument, with one string carrying the melody and the accompanying strings as rhythmic drones.

Sape musics is soothing to the ears and in the longhouses and villages, it is played in the evening before the villagers go to sleep. Boys would play their sape to entertain girls at the verandah of the longhouses.

Sarawak Tourism Board uses sape musics as a musical background in their video clips in its tourism promotions.

 Sape music is usually inspired by dreams and there are over 35 traditional pieces with many variations. The overall repertoire is slowly increasing.

Kuit and his brother are illiterate.

Hailed from Long Wat, like another semi-nomadic Penans, the brothers spent most of their time roaming their jungles, hunting animals and looking  for wild vegetables for food.

Munan Epui (left) and Kuit Laing playing the sape instruments at the launch of their album.

With the construction of the Murum dam, the Penans of Long Wat were settled at the new resettlement at Tegulang where a longhouse, school, clinic and other modern facilities were built for them by the State Government and Sarawak Energy Berhad, the state sole power supplier.

Long Wat is now submerged by the rising dam water.

"Not many Penans are able to perform the sape classical musics," Kuit said to reporters today.

He started learning to play the music when he was 12 years old.

"Later on, I learnt to make the sape instruments," he boasted.

"Learning how to make the sape instruments and to play the classical musics need patience. You need to have good brains working together with your fingers," said the father of five sons and five daughters.

"The best sape instrument is made from kayu adau," he explained."It is light and the sound that comes out of it is louder and sharper," he said.

With the help of SEB, the admirable talent of the sape maestros is now captured on CD. The album "Sape Classics from Belaga" features captivating sape tunes.

Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem launched the album this afternoon. Also present were SEB chief executive officer Datuk Torstein Dale Sjotveit and other senior officials.

SEB sponsors all the costs of producing the album, including transportation of the musicians to recording studio in Kuching, and the production of the first batch of 1,000 CDs.

In addition, SEB also purchased 400 pieces from the musicians to be given as corporate gifts.

All proceeds from the recording will go the musicians, with a portion of the sales from 400 going to the Murum Penan Development Committee.

The CDs are sold at RM25 each.

"The skills of playing sape musics must be passed on from generation to generation. This is priceless and we cannot afford to lose them," said Torstein.