Rukai Musician Gilra Gilrao Spreads the Warmth of Taiwan with Mochi and Nose Flute
Gilra Gilrao, a Golden Melody Award-winning musician from the Rukai indigenous community in Taitung, has found a new home in Penang, Malaysia. There, he shares the culture and warmth of Taiwan with locals through his handmade Taiwanese-style mochi and traditional nose flute performances.
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- 📰 Published: May 19, 2026 at 12:19
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(CNA, Penang, 19th, by reporter Huang Tzu-chiang) In the afternoon sun of Balik Pulau, Penang, Malaysia, the mountain town is bathed in light. The air is filled with the scent of glutinous rice and black sesame, punctuated by the melodious sound of a nose flute. Behind this familiar Taiwanese flavor and tribal music is Gilra Gilrao, an indigenous Rukai from Taitung, who has forged a deep connection with the local land through mochi and his nose flute.
Gilra Gilrao (Tu Chen-yung), busy behind his stall, is not only a Rukai musician but also joined the band Message in 2008, earning a nomination for Best Aboriginal Album at the Golden Melody Awards in 2010. In 2019, he won the "Best Hakka Album" award at the 30th Golden Melody Awards.
Originally from the Taromak tribe in Taitung, Gilra followed his wife, who studied in Taitung, to settle in Balik Pulau, Penang, in 2018. Moving from the mountains of Taitung to the hills of Southeast Asia, this indigenous musician, once on the Golden Melody Awards stage, began to slowly build a new connection with the local land using mochi and the nose flute.
"Mochi has life," Gilra says with a smile as he places a ball of glutinous rice dough on a bamboo tray to rest.
He doesn't make mochi quickly. Each ball of dough must be kneaded repeatedly and then left to rest for a while, allowing the rice to soften and breathe. Only at the perfect moment is the filling wrapped inside.
Gilra's mochi comes in just a few flavors—red bean, peanut, and black sesame—but the simpler the food, the more time and patience it requires, and the more its pure taste can be appreciated.
Every weekend, he drives his food truck to the market to set up his stall, where plump, round mochi are neatly arranged. Schoolchildren love to gather around the truck, while adults queue up knowingly.
Many Taiwanese businesspeople exclaim after tasting it, "This is the taste of Taiwan." Local residents also praise it: "The skin is so soft yet chewy, and the sesame aroma slowly unfolds. It's very different from other desserts."
Many people only learn after tasting the mochi that the man from the Taiwanese mountains before them is a Golden Melody Award-winning indigenous musician.
However, after settling in Balik Pulau, Gilra's life began a completely different chapter. He is dedicated to preserving the culture of the Rukai traditional nose flute. The flute's sound is sometimes high and vast, like a mountain hawk-eagle spreading its wings; at other times, it is low and winding, like a tribal stream flowing slowly under the moonlight.
In recent years, Gilra was also invited by singer Skyhigh Hsu to participate in the documentary "Between Water and Not-Water," produced by director Ko Chin-yuan, continuing to document land and culture through music and film.
At the 2024 Republic of China National Day reception, Gilra was invited to perform traditional songs of the Taromak tribe, "Lily's Clear Sound" and "Words of the Ancestors." The melodious flute sound stunned the audience and brought tears to the eyes of many overseas Taiwanese.
Notably, Gilra is also a Taoist master at the Anxi Qingshuiyan Temple of Master Qingshui in Balik Pulau. He often helps local residents with their troubles, unexpectedly becoming a "legendary figure" in Balik Pulau.
To the residents of this mountain town, this Taiwanese son-in-law from a Taitung tribe always carries a mysterious yet warm aura, like a bard from the mountains, a practitioner playing the nose flute.
He not only kneads the warmth of Taiwan's land into his mochi but has also slowly become one of the most heartwarming scenes on the corners of Balik Pulau.
As night falls, the sound of the nose flute from the mountains of Taitung, accompanied by the Southeast Asian evening breeze, echoes gracefully in the nightscape of this mountain town.
Gilra Gilrao (Tu Chen-yung), busy behind his stall, is not only a Rukai musician but also joined the band Message in 2008, earning a nomination for Best Aboriginal Album at the Golden Melody Awards in 2010. In 2019, he won the "Best Hakka Album" award at the 30th Golden Melody Awards.
Originally from the Taromak tribe in Taitung, Gilra followed his wife, who studied in Taitung, to settle in Balik Pulau, Penang, in 2018. Moving from the mountains of Taitung to the hills of Southeast Asia, this indigenous musician, once on the Golden Melody Awards stage, began to slowly build a new connection with the local land using mochi and the nose flute.
"Mochi has life," Gilra says with a smile as he places a ball of glutinous rice dough on a bamboo tray to rest.
He doesn't make mochi quickly. Each ball of dough must be kneaded repeatedly and then left to rest for a while, allowing the rice to soften and breathe. Only at the perfect moment is the filling wrapped inside.
Gilra's mochi comes in just a few flavors—red bean, peanut, and black sesame—but the simpler the food, the more time and patience it requires, and the more its pure taste can be appreciated.
Every weekend, he drives his food truck to the market to set up his stall, where plump, round mochi are neatly arranged. Schoolchildren love to gather around the truck, while adults queue up knowingly.
Many Taiwanese businesspeople exclaim after tasting it, "This is the taste of Taiwan." Local residents also praise it: "The skin is so soft yet chewy, and the sesame aroma slowly unfolds. It's very different from other desserts."
Many people only learn after tasting the mochi that the man from the Taiwanese mountains before them is a Golden Melody Award-winning indigenous musician.
However, after settling in Balik Pulau, Gilra's life began a completely different chapter. He is dedicated to preserving the culture of the Rukai traditional nose flute. The flute's sound is sometimes high and vast, like a mountain hawk-eagle spreading its wings; at other times, it is low and winding, like a tribal stream flowing slowly under the moonlight.
In recent years, Gilra was also invited by singer Skyhigh Hsu to participate in the documentary "Between Water and Not-Water," produced by director Ko Chin-yuan, continuing to document land and culture through music and film.
At the 2024 Republic of China National Day reception, Gilra was invited to perform traditional songs of the Taromak tribe, "Lily's Clear Sound" and "Words of the Ancestors." The melodious flute sound stunned the audience and brought tears to the eyes of many overseas Taiwanese.
Notably, Gilra is also a Taoist master at the Anxi Qingshuiyan Temple of Master Qingshui in Balik Pulau. He often helps local residents with their troubles, unexpectedly becoming a "legendary figure" in Balik Pulau.
To the residents of this mountain town, this Taiwanese son-in-law from a Taitung tribe always carries a mysterious yet warm aura, like a bard from the mountains, a practitioner playing the nose flute.
He not only kneads the warmth of Taiwan's land into his mochi but has also slowly become one of the most heartwarming scenes on the corners of Balik Pulau.
As night falls, the sound of the nose flute from the mountains of Taitung, accompanied by the Southeast Asian evening breeze, echoes gracefully in the nightscape of this mountain town.