(New Sarawak Tribune)
Published : Thursday September 10, 2015
Sarawak is rich not only with natural resources but also with diverse cultures of the people ‐ each with its own distinct culture, language, and lifestyle.
But as modernisation sets in, these unique cultures are slowly fading away as the younger
generation leaves their villages to pursue their education and career in the larger cities.
Saddened by this sight, one man felt it was his responsibility to keep his heritage and
culture alive.
Nowadays the name Mathew Ngau Jau is known to most Sarawakians.
Known as the Sape’ Master and also the face for the famous Rainforest World Music Festival, Mathew, 63, keeps the sape’ music alive and vibrant nationally and also internationally.
In recognition of his work, Mathew was recently named as one of Malaysia’s Living
Heritage ‐ the only person from East Malaysia to receive this honour.
Childhood tune A humble and simple man, Mathew is a Kenyah Ngorek (a sub‐ethnic group of the Orang Ulu) from Long Semiang, Baram.
According to Mathew, the Kenyah Ngorek was the first group of Kenyah to set foot in the Upper Baram River and is considered the oldest group of the Kenyah people.
As he was growing up, the music from the sape’ was the only source of entertainment he had in the longhouse and unbeknownst to him at that time, sape’ was going to be a big part of his life.
“I only started playing the sape’ seriously when the late Tusau Padan and Uchau Bilung invited me to play together with them,” Mathew explained his early beginnings.
A teacher by profession, Mathew would accompany his mentors for performances when he had the time.
After they passed away, it dawned upon Mathew that someone has to continue to play
the sape’ and revive it.
“There was actually one point in time where no one was playing the sape’ in the longhouses
anymore.
It was only in the cities where the sape’ were being played.
If the villagers want to dance, they would just play the recording of the sape’ music,” recalled Mathew.
This prompted him to continue to play the sape’ and impart knowledge to others in order to keep his culture alive.
Even though he was still working as a teacher at SMK Bau, Mathew would receive invitations to perform overseas to promote Sarawak but eventually it got difficult for him to juggle his time between the two.
After an honest discussion with his wife, Mathew decided to request for early retirement to focus solely on playing the sape’.
He was only 47 years old when the ministry approved of his retirement.
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- New Sarawak Tribune
