ISN'T it great that a simple song like "Jambatan Do Tamparuli" can sell a bridge and promote it as a tourist attraction?
That was what I thought when I walked on the Jambatan Tamparuli in Sabah, the planks and ropes creaking with each step I took.
The original bridge is not there anymore - it was swept away during a flood. But I remember the thrill I felt when I walked over it as it was one of the few old suspended bridges I had ever crossed.
Jambatan Do Tamparuli is a 1970s Kadazandusun hit song inspired by the solitary wooden bridge over the Tuaran River. In the old days, the Kadazandusun people used the bridge to get to town to sell or buy goods. Today, there are four bridges across the river.
The song, composed and sung by Justin Lusah and his late cousin John Gaisah, was about a girl who accidentally dropped a shoe in the river while crossing the bridge. John and Justin are considered pioneers of the Kadazandusun music industry.
Jambatan Do Tamparuli is the only Kadazan song I can remember and I first heard it sung on black and white television in the 70s.
Without fail, it would be played at every Sabah Fest in May and tourists seem to love it.
The song was also made famous when Marsha Milan Londoh sang it during the third season of Astro reality show Akademi Fantasia and won fourth place. Marsha comes from Tamparuli.
However, it's not all roses with Jambatan Tamparuli. Crossing the bridge brings back painful memories of John who was killed in an accident in Penampang at the age of 26 in 1981. John won third place in Bintang RTM in 1976, the year Sudirman won the championship.
