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Tv & Radio > News & Features Sunday October 8, 2006
How to listen to the world
AIR RAVES
By ANTHONY THANASAYAN
READERS of this column often write in to ask how they can tune in to world radio stations. Well, friends, a good guide to get is the Passport to World Band Radio 2006 edition (International Broadcasting Services Ltd; ISBN: 0-914-94163-1).
The New York Times aptly describes the world’s No.1 short-wave guide as the “TV Guide for world band radios”.
With 592 pages, Passport lets you dive right into the hobby of international radio listening whether you’re a newbie looking to get started or you’re already a fan of this fast-growing hobby.
In fact, the topics are so captivating and the language so reader-friendly that it’s hard to put the book down once you’ve opened it. Reading it alone is like listening to radio: it gives you hours of pleasure and satisfaction!
“The Compleat Idiot’s Guide to Getting Started” is where all newcomers to the field should begin. (The quirky spelling, by the way, refers to the famous The Compleat Angler by Izaak Walton that was published in 1653 and that is, perhaps, the world’s first “how-to” book.)
The “Getting Started” section offers seven chapters dedicated to teaching beginners how to calculate time across the globe and how to find the station you want and, of course, how to choose the right radio for you.
Another section tells you how to tune in to the radio stations with the strongest signals in your area; not sure which shows to listen to now that you can access so many? Passport lists the 10 best shows on world band radio.
Then there’s the “Worldly Words” chapter that offers a “translation” of all the broadcasting jargon that can sound like mumbo jumbo to the uninitiated. The definitive glossary of world band terms and abbreviations will soon have you casually dropping terms like “cans” (headphones) and “out-cue” (the last words or sounds from a recording) into conversations?.
There is lots more: how to compare the best radio sets when deciding which to buy, how to set up an outdoor antenna, world radio stations’ addresses and contact persons for frequency guides and hour-by-hour listening guides – to list just a fraction of the treasure available in this book.
You can order Passport to World Band Radio 2006 though amazon.com (according to that site, the 2007 edition will be out in December) or through the International Broadcasting Service’s website, passband.com, where it is sold at US$25.95 (about RM97) inclusive of airmail.
To order by phone with your credit card, call the 24-hour, automated line, ++1-215-598 9018.
To order by post write for details to: Passband.com, Box 300, Penn’s Park PA, 18943 USA.
From left: Sam Mak, Chan Fong and Louise Lau of Oriental Rice Bowl.
Chinese platform
I came across an intriguing programme the other day and found out from Chinese-speaking friends that it is quite interesting – especially if you’re a Chinese-speaking manager, executive, businessman or young professional.
The Oriental Rice Bowl (ORB) on 988 (which is operated by The Star) is a weekday show broadcast for four hours from 6am daily. The regular hosts are Sam Mak, Chan Fong and Louise Lau; they double up with each other on some of the days.
ORB provides a daily diet of the latest news and headlines. There is also a brainteaser segment that’s plenty of fun. During the open-line talk show, listeners can interact for an hour with the DJ and other listeners on all sorts of topics. It’s a great platform for Chinese Malaysians to express themselves.
Apart from interacting with listeners, the show also hopes to create awareness about issues that impact on people’s everyday lives – the 2007 Budget, for instance, was a recent hot topic.
Lau heaved a sigh of relief that the Budget does not burden the nation with taxes and callers rang in to share their thoughts on the topic; a deputy chief editor of a Chinese daily was guest on the show to provide expert analysis.
Other topics on ORB have included the petrol price increase, the health impact of bird flu, shortage of teachers in Chinese schools and others.
Anthony Thanasayan, who was born disabled, is an avid radio listener. His work, training special dogs for the physically handicapped, has been featured on local and international radio. His dogs, he says, help him ‘stay in tune with life’. E-mail him at athanasayan@hotmail.com.
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