Sarawakian singer and musician, Alena Murang, who had just won an international award in Argentina last November is coming up with another project, Road To Our Heritage (ROTH) to promote Sarawak and Sabah traditional music, and her latest effort has not gone unnoticed.

Sarawak Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the project would be the first of its kind undertaken by Alena and her friends from the two East Malaysia states which would involve three music albums and a TV documentary series to be aired on RTM (Radio Televisyen Malaysia) soon.

“Alena has once again made us proud for playing her part in promoting native traditional music craftsmen from both of the East Malaysia’s states with the production is scheduled to cover a road trip with a distance of 1,000 kilometres,” he said in a statement.

He said among the interesting features of this project would be in-depth interviews with music craftsmen which would lead to the discovery of local traditional cultures and scenic locations that could be found in Sarawak.

“Their collaboration with ROTH project’s research partner, Dr Nadia Widyawati Madzhi from Faculty of Music at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) will ensure the history of traditional musical instruments and their producers will be well documented for future educational references and archives,” he said.

Abdul Karim said Alena and her friends also utilised digital platforms to send messages across to the communities on the need to preserve and promote native traditional music, including the craftsmen who helped to conserve such intangible heritage.

“They have also shown us that the (COVID-19) pandemic should not be the stumbling block for local talented musicians to continue their creative passion in the new normal because there is the necessity to create a unique ecosystem, which can contribute to the growth of our home-grown talents in music,” he added.