Gaya street gong seller

On my vacations to Kota Kinabalu on November, I try to find Gaya street gong seller I have been talking about in my gaya street post. Kota Kinabalu tamu@Sunday market held along Gaya street, near the state library. Gaya street tamu open once a week on Sunday from 6am until 12pm. Gaya street tamu is one of the most go places for tourist since you can found so many local crafts and souvenir. You can also found so many discount hotels near gaya street.

Photo: Gong

From a website sabah.org.my, I found out that Gong is a backbone to almost every social event in Sabah. The gongs are found in all parts of the state and are highly valued. They are also used as bridewealth, for animistic religious ceremonies, signaling and during harvest festivals. The smaller musical instrument is a Kulintangan. The instrument consists of a set of about eight to nine small brass kettle gongs. Each sounds a different pitch when struck. The gongs are arranged horizontally in a row on a low wooden bed-like frame. The player sits down on the floor in front of the gongs and beats them with two small wooden mallets.

A kulintangan being played

Kulintangan was first introduced into west Sabah by the Bruneis but it is also traditionally used by the Bajaus and some Dusun/Kadazan people. It is usually played on festive occasions, such as weddings and religious ceremonies, where it is often accompanied by other traditional gongs. You can hear the sound of this music in this video, almost a miles away when you pass by gaya street on sunday. The gong and kulintangan on sale here for as little as RM130 until over thousands ringgit depends on the quality and item used to make the instrument.


On my visit to gaya street on 15 november 2009, not so many coins and banknotes are on sale by this seller. Only a few foreign coins and paper money that not very valuable are on sale. Few years back, I remember this sellers bring so many north borneo coins and Sabah tokens. On my visit last, most of items on sale is Chinese ceramics from Song dynasty. I am not a fan of china dynasty porcelains but you can found Qingbai bowl, Ru ware, Ding ware and blue and white ware. The price is around RM200 until thousands of ringgit depending on the quality of the porcelain.


The owner is the old man wearing a white hat (kopiah putih); sorry, I forgot to asked his name and contact number. They will not be selling in this tamu, when Kota Belud (a town in Sabah famously known as the cowboy town) is having a tamu besar. He is also selling parang and keris, some of the traditional weapon in Sabah. If you going to Gaya Street Tamu, make sure you make a visit to this seller stall. He is buying his items from village people, most probably he will sell them at cheaper price then catalog. One of the seller that worth to look for when you visit this place.

Source: Wikipedia, www.sabah.org.my