Tamu, a weekly market popularly known in Sabah, a collection of sights, smells and sounds as traders gather to sell their homegrown produce. They sell from delicious home made cakes to leafy greens then resistible local fruits with bargains.
Traders usually arrive at the tamu ground as early as 5AM. During 1970s era, my late grandmother and her friends carried their homegrown vegetables, sarong, salted fish and more in wakid (bamboo basket) on their heads.
Even until today, traders will display their items on the ground to entice passerby. While waiting for customers, they chat among themselves in Dusun (a local native language) loudly, then came noise filled the ground with hard-selling Chinese traders, the medicine man telling stories of his wonder drugs. The whole atmosphere is just terrific, like a carnival celebration!
The weekly markets are held at different locations at different day. You won’t want to miss the excitement when you are in Sabah!