Kuala lumpur: The sape has echoed through longhouses along the rivers of central Sarawak for centuries, its gentle yet melancholic notes accompanying rituals of healing, storytelling, and thanksgiving. Shaped like a boat and strummed like a guitar, the sape is more than just a musical instrument – it is the soul of the Orang Ulu community in Borneo, carrying haunting melodies once woven into healing rituals and communal celebrations. Today, this traditional lute-like instrument has transcended its ceremonial roots, emerging as a symbol of cultural pride and national heritage. While its recognition is strongest in Sarawak, the instrument is steadily making its way across the South China Sea.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, musician-turned-entrepreneur Anderson Kalang noted that the sape is enjoying a surge of interest, embraced by Malays, Indians, and Chinese alike as part of Malaysia’s shared cultural identity. Kalang, who is from the Kelabit tribe of Sarawak, not only teaches the traditional instrument but also sells them. The co-founder of Sape’Star KL (Sape’ HUB) said when he and his late friend and business partner, Saufi Aiman Yahya, started their academy and ventured out together, they discovered that the sape was not only appreciated by the Bornean community but also by Malays, Chinese, and Indians from the peninsula.
Kalang shared that nowadays, those who buy and play the sape are no longer restricted to the Orang Ulu. “I have students who are Chinese, Indian, and Malay being based in the peninsula,” he told Bernama recently. Kalang, who began his artistic journey as a guitarist and dancer before dedicating himself fully to the sape, said the diversity of his students struck him. Many of his students were women, and those with no formal music background often learned faster than trained guitarists, he noted.
Kalang explained that if someone has never played any instrument before and starts learning the sape, they might progress faster than a guitarist. He reflected on his own experience, saying it took some time to ‘unlearn’ the guitar, as the technique and methodology are completely different.
Kalang, who also sells the instrument from his base at The Guitar Store in Jalan Kuchai Lama, Kuala Lumpur, mentioned that demand currently exceeds supply. “In a year, about 120 units can be sold,” he added, noting the strong demand in Malaysia and Indonesia, with prices ranging from RM500 to RM2,000, depending on the size – ‘adult medium’, medium, or ‘kids’. However, many sape makers treat it as a side business, and there is also a shortage of raw materials, he pointed out.
He highlighted that if the sape maker has stocks of wood, then only he will make them, so this kind of arrangement slows down the process. If there is no order or a delay in the sape-making, both the maker and the buyer will not be motivated. The challenge also came from within Sarawak, as most sape makers in the state are also struggling to meet demand within the state itself.
Kalang pointed out that there was a period when even the sape makers couldn’t cope with the demand. The supplies they can provide in Sarawak are just enough for the market in Sarawak, making it hard to move some of those units to the peninsula. He said that nowadays, many Sarawakians send their children to sape and traditional dance classes, boosting the demand for the sape. However, since the supply is limited, the demand is prioritised for people in Sarawak first.
Kalang and Saufi had long dreamed of introducing the instrument into public schools, perhaps even as part of the national curriculum. Such an effort, he said, would allow Malaysian children of all backgrounds to connect with the sape as a shared heritage. Although it is quite challenging to adapt to public schools, they are getting inquiries from international schools.
Still, the growing appreciation of the sape in Peninsula Malaysia carries a deeper meaning, that Malaysians, regardless of race or background, are increasingly embracing Sarawak’s heritage as their own. For Kalang, every strum of the sape is more than just music. It is a reminder that the instrument, born in the longhouses of Borneo, now belongs to all Malaysians. “This is not just about preserving the past. It is about making sure the sape has a future and that future is for every Malaysian to share,” he said.