Alena Murang
A proud member of the Kelabit Dayak tribe, this 32-year-old has been uploading music videos of her playing the musical instrument sape and singing traditional songs from the various ethnic groups in Sarawak since 2013 on her YouTube channel.
Since making her debut as an artiste in 2016 with the EP titled Flight, the Kuching-born performer has been attending international conferences and showcases like Worldwide Music Expo (Womex) and South by Southwest (SXSW) to make herself visible in the world music scene.
Her second album titled Sky Songs gave her international exposure when the music video for the single Warrior Spirit bagged two awards at the International Music Video Awards in Britain in July.
It won Best Asia And Pacific Music Video and Honourable Mention For Best Costume.
Another of Alena’s music video Midang Midang had won the Best Styling award at the Buenos Aires Music Video Festival last year.
Zee Avi
This 35-year-old Sarawakian calls herself a Borneo daughter. The Miri native made waves when she released her self-titled debut album in 2009 with an American record label. Zee Avi made its way in to the US Billboard 200 album chart and was listed as the ninth best album of 2009 by the Associated Press.
Just like the singer, her songs have travelled far and wide – her early track, Bitterheart has been featured in US TV series Parenthood as well as in K-dramas Master’s Sun and Marry Him If You Dare.
A few more of her songs would continue to be featured on TV shows and films including the track Siboh Kitak Nangis, that’s sung in Sarawak Malay dialect, which turned up in the K-drama Good Doctor.
Nicholas Teo
Born in Kuching, Sarawak, Teo has made a name for himself in the Mandopop scene since releasing his first album in 2004.
But his first brush with fame came when he took part in the singing competition Astro Talent Quest in 2002 and emerged as the winner.
From there, he secured a record deal with a music label in Taiwan in 2003. The 39-year-old’s success continued when Teo received Taiwan’s Hito Newcomer Award in 2006 and was named the MTV Asia Favourite Artiste Malaysia Award in 2008.
He also dabbles in acting, appearing in various TV series and movies.
Gary Chaw
Malaysian singer-songwriter Chaw who is based in Taiwan was born in Kota Belud, Sabah.
Also known as Gary Cao, the 42-year-old has found success not only in Malaysia and Taiwan but also in China and Hong Kong.
Although his early days in the music business were tough, so much so that he hit rock bottom, Chaw – in the end – prevailed and went on to win multiple awards like Best Male Mandarin Singer at the Hong Kong TVB8 Awards (2006) and 19th Golden Melody Awards (2008).
Besides writing songs for his own albums, Chaw is also known for having written some chart-topping songs for superstars such as S.H.E., Cyndi Wang and Aaron Kwok.
In 2017, Chaw was one of the judges on the first season of The Voice (Singapore/Malaysia edition).
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