Welcoming the Year of the Ox

Wednesday November 19, 2008

Ushering in the Year of the Golden Ox

By ANTHONY THANASAYAN

It won’t be a couple of months yet before the Year of the Golden Ox comes trotting in.

However, that’s not stopping 988, the radio station operated by The Star, from running an on-air special this week on the Lunar New Year.

Starting today, listeners will be treated to a series of special interviews with some talented personalities who came up with a brand new album recently.

Entitled 988 Chinese New Year Album 2009, the album features various talents from the broadcaster’s in-house deejays and local artistes such as Desiree, boy-band JNK (Jack, Nic and Kean) and local heartthrob Danny One.

The CD is their first effort and it will be launched tomorrow. As part of the promotion, 988’s Halo Morning crew will make a special appearance on the station’s Noon Fresher show at 12.30pm today.

Listeners will get to know how the album was produced and offered a sneak peek into tomorrow’s launch.

Expect more 988 deejays to turn up on DJ May’s show Laughter Noon at noon tomorrow to talk about the CD.

On to XFM and its X-Gig tour. After having a blast at various locations in the Klang Valley recently, X-Gig is now heading north to Ipoh. Residents there will be treated to a four-hour concert featuring five indie bands – Bunkface, Bittersweet, Pesawat, Muck and Harmacy.

They are all part of XFM’s 7th edition X-Gig that will be held at Rum Jungle, Tambun, on Saturday. Showtime is at 2pm.

The next X-Gig will be staged in Johor Baru and Penang next month. To be selected, local bands will have to submit their details online via the station’s website: www.xfresh.com.

World Diabetes Day was observed last Friday. I was not aware of such a day until I heard a report about it on Nov 14 on Bernama-run broadcaster Radio 24.

The station’s reporter Tan Su Lin centred her news story on how the chronic condition was increasingly affecting young people and children of today.

The good news in her interview with a local expert on diabetes revealed that diabetes was still very much a preventable condition.

The same issue was also a hot topic on BBC World Service from London on the shortwave frequencies.

“An estimated three million people die from the disease every year, and over a quarter of a billion people are affected,” was the stark message on the international broadcaster.

“Events are being held all over the planet to draw attention to the threat of what is being described as an epidemic that is out of control,

“Diabetes kills more people than AIDS and the prognosis for the condition is grim.” added the BBC.