This Sarawakian woman plays the sape, once only played by men

Alena Murang is well-known in the traditional Sarawakian music scene. She says that the sape was once considered sacred and used by shaman as part of healing rituals or to call on certain spirits. Filepic

When Alena Murang first picked up the sape, it was so that she and her cousins could continue with their traditional dance lessons.

“Some of us wanted to dance with different types of rhythms but we only had one CD at the time and the sape player was not always available,” said the creative Kelabit lass, adding that she never intended to become a sape player.