The young Sandakan men keeping Magagung ‘alive’

AS more people are learning how to play guitars, piano and the drums, a group of young men in Sandakan – known as the KKD Chi Hwa group – is determined to promote the traditional Kadazan Dusun Murut Rungus (KDMR) gong, Magagung, in the hope of keeping the tradition alive.  

Team leader Stephen Simeon Linus, 22, said that he started playing the Magagung at a very young age, as he comes from a traditional musician family, with his father leading the team.  

“My father had taught us how to play Magagung. So my parents, my two other siblings and I would play a set of Magagung for functions, and sometimes just for fun.  

“However, it saddened me to see that Magagung is getting lost in time as fewer people would know how to play it, especially among the youths.  

“To avoid our culture from getting forgotten, my father and his two other friends here decided to start a group of youths from church to play the Magagung. I was only 13-years-old when I joined the group, and today, KKD Chi Hwa has over 20 members, all aged below 30,” he said.  

Linus said his group is not only determined to continue the tradition, but also aims to influence more youths to learn about the traditional instrument.  

“While we want to expand our group to reach more young adults, we also want to teach children on how to play the Magagung, like how I was exposed to the instrument when I was a kid,” he added.  

He said that there are several Paluan (tunes) to be learned with the Magagung, and they are divided by districts in Sabah.  

“Starting from 2015, we have been invited to many functions and events, such as weddings and official government functions. We are happy to be performing and introducing traditional instruments to the public, but we never do it for the money.  

“This is just our hobby, and we are doing it to preserve and promote our culture,” he said.  

Linus, a Kadazandusun boy, is now working for a plywood supplier company here.  

The KKD Chi Hwa group has recently joined the Magagung competition held in conjunction with the Kaamatan Festival. The competition involves seven participants (without kulintangan) and entries are submitted in video form.  

Despite being defeated in the competition, Linus said the group will not stop in their mission to let more people know of the instrument.  

One of the members who participated in the video competition, Ben Allen, 21, said that he had played the Magagung when he was 7-years-old.  

“It was a playful session as there was a wedding at my village in Sipitang that time. However, that experience had sparked a lifelong interest in the instrument.  

“But if a few hours of experience I had during my childhood could make me have a special interest for this instrument, I am sure that exposing Magagung to children would be the right move to keep this tradition alive. 

“That is why I am grateful to have found the KKD Chi Hwa group, as now I get to play the instrument properly, and I get to trigger the interest of the younger generation,” he said.

Another member of the group, Jasper Alexander, 28, said that he has been a fan of traditional music since he was young, but he particularly loves the Sape, a traditional musical instrument of the indigenous people of Sarawak, which originated from the Kayan community who live in the longhouses in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. 

“Like other traditional instruments, Sape is also getting forgotten; very few youths know of this instrument. For me, I attract the interest of my peers by playing modern music with Sape, and I think this could somehow bring it ‘back to life’.  

Alexander said the Sape is very difficult to get now, and he purchased his from a Sape maker in Sarawak, who had customised the Sape for him for the price of RM2,000.  

He said he hopes to be able to influence more young people to “fall in love” with the tunes and sounds of musical instruments, just like he did many years ago. – The Vibes, May 29, 2021