Special X’mas gift for rural school

Chong (second left) presenting the musical instruments to SK Uma Sambop headmaster Apoi Jok Ngerong.

KUCHING: SK Uma Sambop, a rural primary school in Belaga, received a Christmas gift of musical instruments from Teacher Education Institute (IPG) Batu Lintang Campus lecturers in appreciation of their community’s musical heritage.

For 19 years, lecturer Dr Chong Pek Lin had been documenting the rich music culture of the Kenyah community. In addition to a doctoral dissertation on “Kenyah Recreational Songs and Their Significance to Music Education”, she has written three books with transcriptions and translations of Kenyah songs.