Mathew Ngau Jau

Mathew Ngau Jau is a Kenyah Ngorek elder from Long Semiyang, Baram, and among the last community-recognised authorities on the Sape’.

Known to his people as the Keeper of the Kenyah Ngorek Songs and recognised by Malaysia as a Living National Heritage, Mathew has carried the instrument from Sarawak’s longhouses to stages across Europe, the United States and Asia.

For more than 30 years, his deepest work has remained teaching: passing on the instrument, its songs and its stories to those willing to sit, listen and learn.

At TEDxBukit Bintang, Mathew will perform.

Some ideas are spoken. Some are carried through sound.