Diwali shopping

Wednesday October 22, 2008

Deepavali shopping spree

By ANTHONY THANASAYAN

Five more days before the Festival of Lights celebrations next Monday - and the excitement is hotting up over the airwaves.

Listeners of THR Raaga stand a chance at going on a delightful Deepavali shopping spree. When cued, listeners need to call in and answer a list of Deepavali-related questions and 10 callers will be chosen before Saturday for a shopping spree at Chennai Silk Palace, Klang.

In addition to the RM100 given to each of them that day, THR Raaga announcers will also be on hand to help them make their selections.

And that’s not all. As many as 100 orphans will also be there to pick out their own outfits. The shopping excursion will culminate with a scrumptious meal for all.

On a different note, All India Radio (AIR) from New Delhi on shortwave has expressed its concern that this year’s Deepavali festivities will be dampened in India in light of the global economic slowdown. For updates on how the South Asian nation will be celebrating the Festival of Lights, tune in to the broadcaster.

AIR can be heard daily in Malaysia in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Thai and Indonesian at the following times and frequencies:

Times: 6.45am - 8.45am; 4.45pm - 5.45pm; 7.15pm - 8.45pm & 9.30pm - 11pm.

Frequencies: 9.690, 9.705 & 9.910kHz, 31m; 11.620 & 11.740kHz, 25m; 13.605, 13.645, 13.695, 13.710 & 13.795kHz, 22m; 15.410 & 15.770kHz and 17.510, 17.740, 17.810 & 17.875kHz, 16 metres.

Have you been listening to the Capital Breakfast show by Capital FM lately?

The show, with DJs Richard Ng and Caroline Oh, is aired on weekdays from 6am until 10am.

What’s good about it is that the DJs feed listeners news items and gossip from the local and foreign media.

The deejays also provide updates on the latest from lifestyle to fashion and more. One unique treat is listeners get invited to the studio to interact with the deejays. Often, the chats are so funny that listeners are left in stitches.

However, there’s something about the show that doesn’t exude the same kind of zest other Capital FM shows have. Capital Breakfast lacks the right kind of oomph that’s needed to kickstart the day. Although there is plenty of laughter during the show, it isn’t enough to make one want to stay tuned.

Perhaps it’s because there is just too much mention of “I”, “my sister”, “my mum” and “my son” in the mornings. How about a different approach, guys?

Treat for football fans on Capital FM

Wednesday October 15, 2008

Capital FM treat for footie fans

By ANTHONY THANASAYAN

Football fans in the Klang Valley are having a terrific time on the weekends, thanks to Capital FM.

Listeners with a penchant for the beautiful game will find their Saturdays less boring these days. The reason behind that is a two-hour show called Football Now! (FN!), starting 6pm, which Capital FM claims is the nation’s only radio programme dedicated to football.

However, the personalities who anchor the programme certainly sound impressive. They are Fly Guy (real name Saufian Mokhtar), Jeevan Selvanathan, Ross Yusof and David Swinburne.

I listened to the show over the last weekend and liked what I heard. The presentation together with popular songs made the show sound different from previous football offerings aired by other broadcasters. Over two hours, topics might be anchored heavily on the English Premier League, but news and views about international matches, the other European leagues and beyond also get a mention.

The programme segments include features on players and team spotlights, callers’ viewpoints, contests and, of course, top song hits.

There is one important thing that the boys on FN! ought to be careful about though: soccer jargon! These terms might unwittingly turn off non-football fans who may decide to tune out of the show altogether. A few simple explanations along the way should solve the problem.

And how about adding a female personality to the show? If not as a regular host, as a special guest?

This would not only debunk stereotypes that women and football don’t mix but a female voice will also help to liven things up on the show. Nevertheless, Capital FM promises that FN! will be a “pulsating 120 minutes” each week.

Capital FM can be heard in the Klang Valley on FM88.9MHz.

Mail

Here is an e-mail by Ruwaidy Mat Rasul from Muar, Johor, on our recent Raya programming on radio:

“I agree fully with you that there was a good mix of old and new songs for Raya. The conversations between the listeners and the deejays were also very touching. However, regretfully not everyone was like that all the time. One or two deejays mumbled to listeners and were sometimes not serious with them.

“Don’t these jocks realise that we listeners can pick such things up instantly?

“The best moment for me was a recorded interview with a prisoner who was jailed for 35 years for a drugs violation. His painful ordeal was the perfect eye-opener for anyone thinking about messing with drugs: stay away!”

Raya cheer on radio

Wednesday October 8, 2008

Spreading the Raya cheer on radio

By ANTHONY THANASAYAN

One of the best ways to get into the festive feel during the holidays is to listen to the radio. That was exactly what I did last week. I wanted to gauge what the mood was like among for Hari Raya. I’m delighted to report that my exercise was not in vain. Our local FM broadcasters did not disappoint. Here’s what I heard:

There were copious amounts of Raya songs. Almost all of our radio stations were playing them. Needless to say, the Bahasa Malaysia broadcasters were noticeably the best.

Sinar FM appeared to be intoxicated with sentimental tunes while KLFM gave a rock feel to its festive numbers. English broadcaster TraxxFM went back in time to feature the legendary P. Ramlee’s Dendang Berantau, which effectively took us all down memory lane.

Over at The Star’s Redfm broadcast, the station chose to stick to contemporary numbers (mostly in English). It was Suria FM that stole the limelight. Suria excelled with its festive flair ... quite a few were also traditional in nature. That made it my winning choice.

Having a favourite deejay wish fans over the air is a dream come true for many listeners. This, perhaps, was the best Raya gift of all for a few lucky ones.

This year, I was pleasantly fortunate to be able to create some of that magic myself with help from Sinar FM.

Thanks to a special arrangement I made with the publicist for Airtime Management and Programming network which runs the radio station, such a dream came true for a young listener I got to know only recently.

The 26-year old driver received a most unexpected phone call from his favourite deejay Salih Yaccob on the latter’s mobile phone, wishing him Selamat Hari Raya. My new friend was speechless for days!

It’s amazing how the simplest things that we do for others can sometimes be the most rewarding of them all.

Festive mood for Raya

Wednesday October 1, 2008

Getting into the festive mood

AIR RAVES WITH ANTHONY THANASAYAN

HARI RAYA open houses, lots of opportunities to meet up and mingle with your favourite radio deejays on the ground - plus a virtual explosion of Aidilfitri songs (both new and old) on the airwaves!

These are just some of the many specials lined up for us all on radio this week.

Here is what listeners can expect during this festive occasion from at least two popular Bahasa Malaysia broadcasters from Airtime Management and Programming network:

Sinar fm

Talk about getting into the festivities! The broadcaster has apparently done exactly that ... to the extent of changing its tagline.

Starting from today and until the end of this Aidilfitri month, Sinar’s new image is Muzik Raya Terbaik instead of its old one which previously was Muzik Retro Terbaik. What this effectively means is Sinar will be alternating Raya songs with its regular diet of music for listeners.

“Expect some truly original and ultimate Retro Raya offerings that are bound to jog everyone’s memories this Raya,” promises AMP publicist Hani Azlan.

Some of the nostalgic tracks Hani is talking about are Indahnya Lebaran by Effa Rizan and Dendang Perantau by A. Razak.

The list is endless. And tracks include original gems that will probably not be heard on other stations.

Meanwhile, here is a quick duty listing of Sinar’s announcers on the first day of Raya: Nila (6am- noon), Najman (12pm-6pm) and Zaidi (6pm€“midnight).

These on-air jocks and gals promise to keep listeners in good company through their radio sets.

Nila, for instance, says that most people detest the idea of having to work on a festive day. But she is really looking forward to it. More so when it’s Hari Raya.

This is one of the touching moments, Nila says, when she as an announcer is able to experience the special moment when listeners call in to ask for forgiveness from some of their loved ones for wrongs committed.

ERA fm

On ERA, it is more festive music on the cards as the entire ERA team comprising announcers, crew members and even the management, get an unusual chance to have their favourite Raya selections played on the air.

So be sure to look out for a special selection of some 20 songs that will be aired during the festivities.

Listeners also have a chance to join their favourite announcers in an ERA Open House planned for Oct 12 at Setia Alam, Selangor. All you have to do is to call in to the station and tell them which announcer you would like to meet and what you are bringing for him or her. Tune in for the full details.

Here is the duty schedule of the ERA deejays:

First day of Raya: Nana (6am -10am); Raya Special Programme (10am - noon); Aimee (12pm-6pm) & Ray (6pm -midnight).

Second day of Raya: Adifashla (6am - noon); Kieran (12pm - 6pm) and Noor (6pm - midnight).

Listeners in for a treat

Wednesday September 17, 2008

Treat for listeners

AIR RAVES
By ANTHONY THANASAYAN

HERE’S a treat for listeners of 988. In case you don’t already know, the Chinese language broadcaster operated by The Star has been rebroadcasting its highly popular Idol Drama series. Broadcast on Saturdays (7pm-10pm) until mid-October.

Each programme features the voices of local and foreign artistes, among them, Hong Kong’s pop queen Joey Yung, Dylan Kuo (Taiwan), Shi Xin Hui (Singapore) and Gary Cao (Malaysia),

The station’s deejays May and Mike also take part in the drama.

Also tune in to:

U-Turn in Love (Sept 20), Lovebirds featuring Fiona Sit (Sept 27),

Confession of Superman featuring Genie Zhuo (Oct 4) and I Still Remember... Promise with Fish Leong and Ah Niu (Oct 11).

During the holy month of fasting, Sinar FM offers its listeners an opportunity to show their love for the less fortunate.

Together with Nestum, the station is inviting its listeners to bake and share their Nestum recipes. The best cookies will be bought by the broadcaster and donated to a local orphanage of the winner’s choice.

The contest ends on Friday. Visit www.sinar.fm for details.

Other Ramadan specials on IKIM fm:

Fadhilat Ramadan (The Virtues of Ramadan) (daily, 7.15am and 7.30pm in Bahasa Malaysia/ 2.15pm and 11pm in English): Catch daily Ramadan tips.

The Blessings of Ramadan – Month of Mercy (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 4.30pm): Find out why Ramadan brings extra blessings for the faithful and why the month is also known as The Month of Mercy.

Wednesday September 3, 2008

Merdeka mania

By ANTHONY THANASAYAN

I was at home on Merdeka’s Eve last Saturday. Not because I had nowhere to go or nothing to do. I chose to be home because I was eager to find out what the mood would be like over the airwaves as our nation prepared to usher in its 51st birthday at midnight.

Fortunately, I was not disappointed. The Merdeka mood was loud and clear over our local airwaves.

Most of the English and Bahasa Malaysia radio stations played patriotic songs.

The selections helped to put listeners in the National Day spirit. The Hari Kebangsaan songs were also a welcome change from the usual tracks.

In addition, some stations provided two radio deejays instead of only one announcer in their time slots. Naturally, the ones with two deejays sounded more festive.

Not to be outdone, some single jocks seemed to fight back. They opened up their studios’ telephone lines and invited listeners to share what they were doing and where they were for the holidays.

Some callers said they were looking forward to watching the fireworks whilst others spoke about watching football matches. Others were looking to join in the local events in town. The listeners themselves did not sound nervous when they spoke on the air. One could tell clearly that people all over the nation were truly having a great time.

Here are three of our radio stations which I thought deserved special mention for doing something extra for Merdeka. They are listed in order of preference:

• Radio24 by the Bernama News Agency: The station took listeners back to the first Merdeka. It offered some in-depth perspectives of Malaysia from where she was to how she is today. The station simultaneously carried a “live” discussion show from Bernama TV. This was a good move as listeners who were not by their TV sets were able to follow it over the radio. The “live” crossover conducted at midnight, however, was badly marred by poor sound quality.
• KLFM by Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM): The male and female deejays were relaxed in their presentations – a nice touch to the occasion. Or was it perhaps because the FM broadcaster managed to mainly catch exactly what I was feeling at that particular moment?

TraxxFM by RTM: There were good crossovers but at midnight, the female announcer on the scene sounded dry and dull even though she was covering what she herself described as a truly “momentous” occasion.

Not Up To Mark On Olympics

Wednesday August 27, 2008

Poor coverage

Air Raves:By ANTHONY THANASAYAN

Majority of the radio stations were not up to the mark in their coverage of the Olympics.

THE 29th Olympics Games in China is finally over. Now we can all go back to our lives to what it was before the games of all games started in Beijing on Aug 8.

But before we actually get to doing that, allow me a few lines to let off some steam.

I must express how disappointed I was – and probably many of you too – with most of our radio stations for not making the Olympics truly a heartfelt occasion for listeners.

To put it in a nutshell, I felt that all our radio stations could – and should have - centred their programming from Aug 8 onwards around the Olympics.

There was so much that they could have done other than just dishing out results.

They could have had interviews with our sportsmen, celebrities and politicians on what they thought about Beijing 2008 and general knowledge quizzes with prizes on the event.

To my knowledge, there appeared to be only two broadcasters that stood out delivering updates on the Olympics.

The first was news broadcaster Radio24 with live coverage of some of the events.

The second was 988, the Chinese language broadcaster operated by The Star.

Sports lovers were treated to an evening special called 988 Global Sports Club. For one hour on Saturdays, listeners got to hear a mix of Olympics and local sports news. This was aired in between some of the latest Chinese pop songs featured in the top music charts of several Asian nations.

Other features included weekend shows Weekly News (weekly round-up of the Games) and Weekly Sports Star, which delves further into the Olympic Games.

Listeners got to hear interviews with some of the athletes and their families, friends and even the coaches and fans to find out what it takes to make an Olympic star.

In yet another programme special called 988 Olympic Strategy, the 988 DJs invited several relevant personalities to talk about our athletes taking part in Beijing.

The guests included representatives from Beijing’s radio station as well as sport critics to present their analysis on a particular activity. Well done, 988! Elsewhere, Red FM, also operated by The Star, had an interesting guest in their studio last Friday. He was feng shui consultant Philip Lim.

The one-hour morning session from 7.30am was filled with interesting facts about what listeners could do to spice up their romance in their bedrooms.

Never have an untidy bedroom if you want romance to blossom, clean it up once a year and never put up pictures of others, were among the scores of treasured advice that Lim disclosed to a very amused Shaz and Will in their Red Breakfast show (weekdays, 6am - 10am on Red FM.

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).