News & Features Sunday January 6, 2008
No jingle all the way
AIR RAVES BY ANTHONY THANASAYAN
NOT normally an early riser, I was, however, up by 6am on the recent Christmas Eve. I did not want to miss any of the seasonal fare offered by our radio stations that day.
The morning rush hour seemed as if it would be supercharged with Christmas specials but as the hours wore on, it appeared that for most stations, it was a mediocre effort at best.
Lite fm, for example, had an interesting contest asking listeners to guess the type of gifts presented on the song The Twelve Days of Christmas which was fun to listen to.
But like many others, the broadcaster lacked consistency and a proper build-up to infuse listeners with the spirit and cheer before Christmas Day.
Believe it or not, Traxx fm opened up its telephone lines during the traffic show later that evening to talk about what makes a car sexy!
The show’s deejays, who usually have no short of great topics, should have come up with more timely and meaningful subjects. They could get people to talk about the true meaning of Christmas by reaching out to the needy, reading to the blind, visiting someone in hospital, etc. In short, how to be a Santa Claus!
The only radio station which I thought had done a better job in spreading good cheer was the Bernama-run Radio24. Its deejays were brimming with excitement from daybreak of Dec 24 to 25.
The station’s Tan Su Lin reported from a local children’s home on their festive celebration. Elsewhere, the 24-hour broadcaster gave an idea of how the occasion was being observed in neighbouring countries.
At the same time it did not neglect to cover news happenings in Malaysia and around the world.
It was refreshing to hear the words “Hari Krismas” and “Selamat Hari Natal” uttered repeatedly over Radio24, unlike many of the other Malay broadcasters which mentioned nothing during the times I listened in.
I was puzzled over why the homepages of Era, Xfresh and Sinar omitted to mention Christmas when the rest of the Airtime Management and Programming radio stations did.
Hot fm wished listeners “Selamat Hari Raya Korban” and “Selamat Menyambut Tahun Baru 2008” but was mum about Christmas. Fly fm, on the other hand, had its deejays in Santa hats.
Does this mean that stations that were devoid of Christmas cheer on their homepages have no Christian listeners?
Where does that leave me? I listen to all of them. Have they forgotten that Christmas is a national holiday for all Malaysians?
This reminds me of an interview I heard on BBC World Service recently. An atheist was asked by the London station why she celebrated Christmas.
She replied that Christmas has become so commercialised that it isn’t only celebrated by Christians but by everyone.
“Although I reject the divinity aspect of the occasion, I accept the morality message behind it,” she said.
“I’m a great believer in Santa Claus,” she concluded.
Despite living in the cyber age, the writer insists that radio still provides a unique window on the world. When he isn’t scanning bandwidths, he helps to raise awareness of positive living with pets through his organisation, Petpositive (Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association).
Note: This article appeared under the Top 9 list of The Star's Most Viewed Pages on the same day as it was printed. aNt
