Wednesday 20 February 2008

RAT TREATS

RAT TREATS



Air Raves, StarTwo, The Star

Rat treats

Tomorrow is Chap Goh Mei, an auspicious day which marks the final day to the Lunar New Year celebrations to welcome the Year of the Rat.

I cannot think of a more fitting time to look back and see what kind of treats the Rat recently decided to bring for us on radio.

I was delighted to observe several non-Chinese language broadcasters – particularly the Bahasa Malaysia radio stations – taking special interest in the lunar event.

I say this because over the recent years some of them have not been doing so, or at least, not enough.

Radio stations like Asyik FM run by RTM got its mostly Malay listeners to send out their Gong Xi Fa Cai greetings to Chinese listeners in the Eve of CNY.

Although many of them were taking advantage of the long festive holidays to return to their hometowns to be with their families, many still found time to call in to the studio to convey their greetings.

Asyik’s male deejay on duty was enthusiastic about the occasion. He reminded listeners about our multi-religious and multiracial country, sent his greetings out to all the “towkays” (Chinese businessman) listening in and reminded those on the road to drive safely.

I understand that there were lesser accidents on the road this year. If true, I have no doubt that a good chunk of the credit should go towards the radio stations for their frequent safe-driving messages on the airwaves.

I heard quite a few of them and was quite impressed. Having said that, however, I feel that there is still room for improvement.

Radio stations, for instance, should have invited personalities, politicians, or even the man-in-the-street to give out brief safe-driving messages to listeners during the festivities. The messages should be short, concise and kept amusing so that listeners will pay attention to them.

As for music, one FM station chose to give its listeners a heavy and long dose of sentimental songs during the evening hours of CNY. I seriously wonder about the wisdom of such a decision as loves songs tend to make some people sleepy!

NOTE: TODAY'S ARTICLE RANKED AT NO 10 IN THE STAR ONLINE.

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).