‘Sarawak Tribal Wisdom’
Asia Pacific Regional Hub for the 59th International Convention and Congress Association (ICCA) Congress 2020 has selected Alena Murang, a Sarawak-born musician and creative artist of Dayak Kelabit and English-Italian ancestry as the keynote speaker.
Her keynote session, ‘Sarawak Tribal Wisdom’ is uniquely crafted to inspire the delegates to learn and garner tribal values and see where it can be applied to the business world of today. The multi-talented Alena has been at the forefront telling culturally rich stories of the indigenous communities of Sarawak through her music and art. She sees herself as the keeper of stories, as her songs are oral histories learnt from her elderly relatives of the Kelabit tribe. As the first female professional sape’ player and teacher, she draws influence from the genres of the world, rock and folk music, combined with her interpretations of traditional indigenous music and songs.
Having performed in numerous festivals and featured in various media worldwide, Alena is also a motivational speaker for events such as TEDxKL and many more, inspiring her audience in her journey in making cultural heritage and its value of togetherness as well as caring for the earth relevant and prominent in today’s urban world.
“We have purposely chosen Legacy Impact as our education agenda for the ICCA congress as Sarawak is keen to shift from focusing on the tourism impact of conventions to legacy impact. Having Alena as a speaker will be a great metaphor on how Sarawak will progress with its true tribal values which is unity, community and creating a unique and strong identity for the business events sector,” said Mr. Hii Chang Kee, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Sarawak and local host committee state chairman of the congress.
Kuching, Sarawak, was successfully selected as the Asia Pacific Regional Hub for the 59th ICCA Congress 2020. The hybrid regional hub congress will take place on-site at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) with various live-streamed programmes from ICCA’s world congress in Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei, from the 1st – 4th of November 2020.
