THE most famous Kadazandusun song to-date is Jambatan Do Tamparuli (Tamparuli Bridge).

It's a simple little song about a woman crossing the bridge and losing her high-heeled shoes and going off to buy a new pair at the Wednesday market.

The first four lines go like this: Pak pak kangku doh/ summsui do jambatan/ jambatan do Tamparuli/ bakasut tinggi oku. The song is set to the catchy beat of the sumazau, a dance unique to the Kadazandusun.

Justin Lusah never expected his ‘Jambatan Do Tamparuli' to become a Kadazandusun classic.

For a ditty with such a lightweight theme, its fame is rather amazing. But hotel lounge singer, Melinda Augus, can attest to that fact. "When I sing in Kuala Lumpur whenever the audience find out that I'm a Sabahan, they will request for Jambatan (Do) Tamparuli,'" says the 27-year-old Sino-Kadazan.

Sitting in a coffee shop in the northern Sabah town of Kota Marudu which is about two hours' drive from Kota Kinabalu, the singer and composer of the song, Justin Lusah puzzles over the song's popularity.

"It is not a patriotic or a love song. I really don't know what its pull is. I even received a letter from the Prime Minister's Department congratulating me on it during the PBS time (1985 to 1994)," says Lusah, 50, using the common term that Sabahans use to refer to the period (1985 to 1994) when Parti Bersatu Sabah governed the state.

Sabah Records managing director Chong Ten Siong, whose company sells Lusah's album with the evergreen song, believes its popularity is due to the simple lyrics and the catchy tune that "pulls in the listener".

What is amusing to learn is that the song is based on a real incident that Lusah says happened in 1977. After singing at a concert, Lusah and his second cousin, the leg endary Kadazandusun singer John Gaisah, were crossing a bridge when they heard a woman screaming.

"We were intoxicated. She was behind us and she was yelling that she had lost her high-heeled shoes. We weren't on Tamparuli Bridge but on another one further away.

"Later when a fan asked me to compose a song connected to Tamparuli (the town), I remembered the incident and decided to use it. "

Since then the town, which was once famous for its Wednesday market (as mentioned in the song), has been overshadowed by the bridge that has become a tourist attraction.

Lusah, now a rubber smallholder and an insurance agent, did not expect the song to be a hit.

"I thought my song Kada Arau Monduli (Don't Hurry Home) would be more famous," says the semi-retired singer, who has recorded 12 Kadazandusun albums, with a smile.

So far Blues Gang, Kadazandusun songbird Clarice John Matha and Cozzi Chong, a Sino-Kadazan, have recorded Jambatan Do Tamparuli. Marsha, who is from Tamparuli, sang it when she was competing in Akaemi Fantasia 3

Unfortunately, Lusah has not benefited financially from his song.

To quote him, it is a case of "someone planting a tree but other people getting the fruit." He accepted a one-time payment for his composition and his attempts to seek further monetary compensation have hit a legal wall.

Is he happy that in Taiwan Jambatan Do Tamparuli is a famous song sang in Mandarin by Chong? "I'm delighted but I'm sad I don't get any royalties," he says.

Based on an estimate by MACP (Music Authors Copyright Protection), Lusah says he has lost RM4mil in royalties.

He is planning to release an album with his friends in time for the Harvest Festival in May. One of the songs he has written for the album is Oi Kobujang (Hey Bachelor).

This time he will copyright his song.

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