Deepavali and Unity

Sunday November 18, 2007

Deepavali and unity
AIR RAVES By ANTHONY THANASAYAN

THE muhibbah spirit was very much present on the airwaves during the recent Deepavali celebrations.

To start with, RTM’s Traxx fm ran a message from MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu who took the opportunity to touch on national unity. The station must have repeated the brief statement a number of times that Deepavali day on Nov 8. I caught it just before 9pm.

Speaking in English, Samy Vellu, who’s also the Works Minister, reminded listeners that the Festival of Lights is in fact a celebration for all Malaysians – not just for Hindus – and is therefore celebrated as a national holiday in the country.

Fittingly after the speech a Tamil Deepavali song was played. It was a commendable effort by an English-language broadcaster.

The early evening hours were raining and wet in Kuala Lumpur. And some of the FM band DJs seemed well aware of the gloomy weather.

For instance, our Tamil broadcasters like Thr Raaga and Minnal fm tried their best to perk up the atmosphere with lively and upbeat songs.

While Thr featured “pop-ish” tunes, Minnal favoured more traditional fare. Personally I preferred the latter because it brought on a more festive feel.

The other plus point about Minnal was the youngish-sounding DJ on duty. The jolly chap was full of vigour and enthusiasm for the occasion. Just listening to his cheerful talk was enough to make one forget the downpour that threatened to dampen the festive mood for those of us who opted to stay home because of the rain.

But Thr, too, had a few tricks of its own in pulling in the listeners.

It spun festive songs that were obviously locally produced with words like baju kurung and dondang sayang mentioned in one album. This certainly added a unique Malaysian feel to the festivities.

The Airtime Management and Programming broadcaster also invited callers to share what their Deepavali was like. Those who managed to get through received a complimentary Thr.fm T-shirt.

And if listeners were still somehow bored with all that, Thr invited them to have some fun by logging on to www.thr.fm. When clicked on, its newly improved website immediately brings on a flash media show with festive greetings from the station’s DJs.

Once there, there are plenty for listeners to occupy themselves with. These include Thr’s latest promotions and interesting pictures of its various events.

Meanwhile, over at Minnal, listeners can also check out its website www.minnalfm.com and have the option to decide the preferred language – Tamil, Bahasa Malaysia or English – to browse in.

Although not as good as Thr’s, judging by Minnal’s recent improvements of its webpages, I feel it won’t be long before it is on a par with – if not outshine – Thr.

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).