Yap Keng Vui
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Prof. Dr Danny Wong — Sabahan Historian
Sabah is very proud of its eminent historian, Professor Datuk Dr Danny Wong Tze Ken. I have included a summary of his distinguished career at the bottom of this post. So when my friend Yap said, “Eh, I’m bringing you to this,” I thought: Far out! Professor Danny (I want to refer to him in… Continue reading
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KKIFF: Watching ‘The Sight of Borneo Kirin’
I was so excited to see the film ‘The Sight of Borneo Kirin’, by Pentium Tee! It was Day 2 of the Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival (KKIFF) and Yap had a ticket for me. He warned me, “I’m in this film, okay?” No kidding! This film is a documentary about the Hakka Chinese Unicorn… Continue reading
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Making Sabah Guitars
Yap Keng Vui, Roger Wang, Gordon Pan, Allen Lin, and Timothy Tang are here in Yap’s workshop. They recently acquired the contents of a Canadian luthier’s workshop in Kuala Lumpur, because he was returning to Canada. So today they are opening all the boxes which have arrived! It’s kids in candy store day! I look… Continue reading
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Sabah 2022: Woodwork, calligraphy and the moon
I’m spoiled from the moment I land in Sabah. Relatives greet me at the airport — poor things! The flight from Kuala Lumpur arrives at such a dreadful time, it gets into Kota Kinabalu at 12.40am and I actually walked out about 1.00am. I am so cared for ☺️. After a few days, it’s time… Continue reading
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Sunset Symphony – music in a Kudat paradise
The photographs in the book were better, supplied by the Sabah Tourism Board. But Kudat manages to shine, even with what I have here. [Excerpt from: Funk, Joanna. SabahSongs: Contemporary Music in Sabah. Kota Kinabalu: Opus Publications, 2013. 44-50. Print.] The story was first published in my blog SabahSongs before the blog became a book.… Continue reading
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The man who brought Chinese orchestra to Sabah
My friend Yap Keng Vui translated all the conversations with Teo Seng Chong, and I have so much to thank him for. Teo Seng Chong arrived in Sabah in 1986 at the invitation of Tshung Tsin Secondary School (TTSS), to bring Chinese orchestral music into Sabah. He is now Head of Music at TTSS, and… Continue reading
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Ethnomusicology scholars pick up my book!
Ethnomusicology scholars have picked up my book SabahSongs: Contemporary Music In Sabah. 😀 The 5th symposium of the International Council of Traditional Music study group on Performing Arts Of South East Asia (PASEA) held their event in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah from 16-22 July 2018. Thank you Yap KV for showing me these lovely photos. Yap… Continue reading
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My book seen at a public library in Sabah
My friend Yap sent me a photo of my SabahSongs book in the Penampang (Sabah, Malaysia) Public Library today. Great to see 👍. Thank you Yap! Continue reading
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The Hakka Association in Kota Kinabalu
Yap Keng Vui and Chua Chun Kiong brought me to meet curator Allen Lin at the newly-built Hakka Association building in Kota Kinabalu. “The Hakka Association has 13 districts in Sabah,” Allen said. “Penampang, Putatan, Kota Belud, Ranau, Labuan, Lahad Datu, Tawau, Sandakan, Keningau, Beaufort, Kota Kinabalu and Tenom.” At the entrance is a massive… Continue reading
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Sabah holiday 2015. Inside the Sabah Art Gallery
My friend Yap took me to the relatively new Sabah Art Gallery. It’s an ecologically friendly building, powered by solar panels. Responsive lights turn on as you approach a painting. It’s a little freaky, but you get used to it 🙂 Continue reading
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From Blog to Book
I wrote my first blog SabahSongs from 2009-12. It was about people working in the field of music in Sabah, on the island of Borneo, where I was living at the time. When I said I was moving to Australia, readers of the blog asked me to turn it into a book. Eight manic weeks… Continue reading
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Book Launch Speeches — Video and Transcripts
Video and transcripts of the speeches at the book launch of SabahSongs: Contemporary Music in Sabah, at the Jesselton Hotel, Kota Kinabalu on December 20, 2012. Speech by Datuk CL Chan (the publisher) First of all I would like to thank YB Datuk Masidi Manjun for taking his very precious time to be here with… Continue reading
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Book launch media coverage
Here is some media coverage about the book launch of SabahSongs: Contemporary Music in Sabah. Most of it is out of Malaysia, in English, Chinese and Malay, but some websites from elsewhere took the story from newsfeeds. Click on them to enlarge. English Chinese Malay Continue reading
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Ready for the book launch!
With less than a week to go to the book launch, we are down to press packs and other publicity. Two days after the launch, we move to Brisbane, Australia. I’m now writing in my new blog, for thIs Australian phase of my life. Writing the music blog SabahSongs for the last three years was… Continue reading
About Joanna
Joanna is British Australian. Her early career was in financial news in London. That ended in 2008. Joanna moved to Sabah, her parents’ birthplace, where she wrote a blog about musicians, which became a book. Joanna came to Australia in 2012 and started this blog — her second. These days, she writes mostly about music, her garden, and trips to Sabah. Oh, and Wookie the Havanese.
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