‘NOT FOR PLEASURE’: The Puyuma performer said that Aborigines in Taiwan are not alone in seeing their language slowly die out and his mission was to help preserve it

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 14, 2019
By: Yang Yuan-ting and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Aboriginal communities sing not for pleasure, but to preserve their culture and history,

Puyuma singer Sangpuy Katatepan Mavaliyw said on Friday.

“The stereotype of Aborigines is that we love to sing. However, we do not sing for the pleasure of singing. Instead, we sing because song is the medium through which Aboriginal culture and history are passed down from generation to generation,” Sangpuy said ahead of a performance at the National Theater in Taipei.

Sangpuy gained fame domestically and abroad with his album Yaangad, which means “life” in the Puyuma language.

He bases his songs on actual events, Sangpuy said.

“I am inspired by everyday life. I feel that if I create something that even I like and am moved by, it would move others,” he said.    [FULL  STORY]