AS the radio itself had crooned “Those were the Days”, each one of us will surely recall those good old days when the transistor first came into our lives.
And for each generation, the first experience with the radio would certainly be somewhat different. But still, in retrospect, our romantic beginnings and fond bondings with the radio cannot be anything but poignantly nostalgic.
World Radio Day passed us by on February 13 without much fanfare. It has been 110 years since the radio became the tool that knitted the world community into a universal global village.
I belong to the baby boomer generation of the 50s/60s and in my early childhood the radio was a distant sound-blaring box, yet it was fascinating, because it spoke and sang in a myriad of languages and brought the ends of the world to our living rooms.
My earliest encounter with the radio was as a child in the 1960s. I lived in a plantation bungalow surrounded by rubber trees. Looking out through the wire-meshed window just before dawn was a sight to behold. Scores of tappers fitted with carbide-fuelled lamps on their foreheads darted from one tree to another as if they were playing hide-and-seek.
The flickering carbide flames created a faery landscape in the misty cold morning. And then comes a blast from the indomitable radio. A peppy MGR-hit song, ‘Vangga Machan Vangga’ cracks the silence of the dawn.
With this, my tryst with the radio took off, as tappers switched on their transistors to beat the drudgery of their mundane daily routine. In between songs, I would also get a huge pummelling of radio commercials in Tamil.
Tonic Chop Gajah
One such jingle was a “spell-out” like this: “T.O.N.I.C C.H.O.P G..A…J…A…A…A…H, Tonic Chop Gajah! The jingle ends with the copywriter’s signature slogan: Annaivarrum virumbum Tonic Chop Gajah” (Everybody loves Tonic Chap Gajah!).
But not to be outdone, the multinational brewer too must push his sales pitch with his ever-cajoling one liner to the niche Indian market: Nayii Chap Guiness Stout, Ungguleke Nallethe (Bulldog brand Guiness Stout is good for you!).”
My daily pre-dawn radio encounters will be different from day to day. It all depended on who is tasked to tap the trees closest to my house. It could be a host of Malay tappers too, who will then unwittingly treat me to a slew of Malay hits, namely of the Pop Yeah Yeah genre.
And that could be anything from M. Osman and The Clans with their jogetty ‘Dendang Patah Hati’, A. Ramli and the Rhythm Boys crooning ‘Kenangan Mengusik Jiwa’, Jefrydin and The Siglap Five with their bouncy ‘Malam Kenangan Ku’ as well as Kassim Selamat and The Swallows with their made-for-jive ‘Mak Itti Mai Illa’, just to name a few.
P. Ramlee? Of course, no radio station will ever skip the un-subduable voices of P. Ramlee and Saloma, especially a station that repeatedly introduces its call sign as: “Inilah Radio Malaysia!” So I get big loads of the effervescent P. Ramlee’s ‘Bujang Lapok’ and the mirthful ‘Aci Aci Buka Pintu’ thanks to those Malay tappers and their portable transistors.
Salute to the Grundig!
Beyond the “rubber-tree-broadcasts” a mammoth German-made radio called Grundig sat on a side table in the living room at home. According to one of my older siblings, the family huddled around the Grundig to listen to the proclamation of Merdeka on the night of August 31, 1957. Perhaps, I too may have been present among those huddled around the Grundig, but only as an eight-month-old baby hoisted by my eldest sister, Anne, on her shoulders.
I remember the family gathered around the Grundig to usher in the New Year. When the countdown began everybody joined in … 3..2..1.. and the cacophonous shouts of Happy New Year plus the clink of wine glasses filled the air. It was such a moving moment with old Grundig saluting the year gone bye with ‘Auld lang Syne’ and at the same time the family welcoming the New Year with a load of cheers and a toast for a better year to come.
I also recall, as a family we huddled around the Grundig on two other occasions in the year - the first, on the night when the Keeper of the Ruler’s Seal announces the sighting of the moon to declare the beginning of the fasting month - and second, on the night the Keeper of the Ruler’s Seal announces the sighting of the new moon of Syawal.
Although we are Christians, it was my father’s suggestion that we do this to make our Malay-Muslim maid, Mak Chik Hawah, feel at home with us, on those auspicious days which would mean a lot to her.
Thomas Cup
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Seventy-five-year-old former school teacher Victor Alphonso of Seremban has this to say of the Grundig: “Ooooo ... That was our only model. From the 1950s I still remember listening to the Grundig with dad. As there was no television then, we gathered around the Grundig for the Thomas Cup matches too and heard names like Elo Hansen, Chan Peng Soon, Finn Kobbero, Nandu M. Natekar, Abdullah Piruz, Dave Freeman, Jim Poole and so on.
“The Grundig was with us until 1962, when dad got a Philips gramophone. We gave more attention to the gramophone and the old Grundig was left to rot in the company of other oldies like newspapers and magazines in the store room. The cockroaches, ants and lizards finished off the Grundig’s front fabric that was part of the speaker and filled up the interior with their own kind including lizard eggs.
“And so during a spring-cleaning ops one day, off went the Grundig together with the old meat-safe, and kerosene stove to the dumpster. But I must say, the Grundig was one good radio. It came with good speakers with sound clarity and could even receive far off stations,” Victor reminisces.
From church reader to radio announcer
Among the cast of radio announcers, deejays, news readers and talk show hosts was the golden voice of Susai Anthony Muthu. Susai was spotted by the Blue Network supervisor, the late R. Jayanathan during a church service at Our Lady of Fatima parish in Brickfields.
Each time Susai took to the lectern to read the day’s scripture, Jayanathan got an inkling his voice would be suitable as a radio announcer. After an audition at Wisma Radio in Angkasapuri, Susai was roped in as a part-time announcer with the Blue Network.
He tells The Vibes: “As a child I used to listen to the radio a lot. I used to wonder how it would be to be actually doing it and ‘practised’ reading the news into a big empty biscuit tin. It had a nice effect on the voice.”
During the audition, Susai was asked to introduce a programme and also read a news bulletin. The programme intro was in Malay and the news bulletin in English.
“At that time, all radio announcements were in Malay. Only the actual programme content was in the various languages. ‘For example, the news was introduced as ‘Inilah berita dari Radio Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, disampaikan oleh Bosco D’Cruz’. Then Bosco takes over saying ‘Here are the headlines’.
“Sitting in the same studio as the late Bosco D’Cruz, the late George Abraham, Harjit Singh and the late Chris Lopez was something I didn’t think could happen. Bosco was rather distant but Harjit and Chris were friendly.
“My colleagues the late Alan Zachariah, Ronnie Atkinson, Amos Ooi, James Ooi, Ajmerr Singh, Mary Ann, Janet Ambrose and fellow part-timer Neubert Ambrose were all household names and some were really ‘top draw’ and to be among them was itself a dream come true although I sometimes felt I did not belong to their league.
“When Jeyanathan assumed a higher position, Tunku Atikah took over as head of the Blue Network. She was a gem of a person and gave me plenty of opportunities to present programmes and read the news. Through her, I got to serve for about six years simultaneously in the Voice of Malaysia, our overseas broadcast.
“One of the things that used to make me very jittery was the habit of some newsreaders to walk into the studio at minus 10 seconds from air time. Bosco and E. Samson were like that. There were times when at minus 10 seconds the news editor would enter with a 10 minute bulletin, and give it to me before walking off.”
‘My romantic best’
“The last programme before service ended at midnight was ‘Before we say Goodnight’. This programme was where I had an opportunity to display my ‘romantic best’ and I think it touched many a heart.
“Calls and letters came and I used to spend a lot of time on the studio phone talking to ardent listeners who enjoyed the songs, loved my voice and the words I had used to introduce or back announce a song.
“There was one girl who wrote tens of pages of letters from Terengganu. She claimed that everything I said was meant for her. One day she came to Wisma Radio to meet me unannounced. Tunku Atiqah was with her and it so happened I dropped in at the office that day. Tunku rushed out of her room and alerted me to the presence of the girl and I quickly made myself scarce!
“Broadcasting is something I truly love and given the opportunity would love to read the news again. My voice attracted many admirers and one of them is today my better half, Joanne Loo.”
As such was Susai’s fruitful romance with the radio. And like him, we too may have our own reminiscing story to tell.
For me, memories flashback to my childhood days in that plantation house. The misty pre-dawn encounter with tappers and transistors as well as the taste of freshly brewed morning coffee and an era gone by.
Perhaps, it's the reason why the lyricist wrote: “The radio reminds me of my home far away!” - The Vibes, February 21, 2021
