KOTA KINABALU – The Sabah government has injected RM2 million into the heritage conservation of the historic Wisma Radio.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Mohd Noor, at the launch of Radio Television Malaysia’s (RTM) 75th anniversary and RTM Orkestra’s 60th anniversary, said: “Wisma Radio had served as Cobbold Commission temporary secretariat office, where the voice of Sabahans were collected in 1962 before the formation of the Federation of Malaysia.”
“This is why we are allocating the fund to conserve the building, which is a huge part of Sabah’s history.”
All radio and television operations under RTM in Karamunsing were relocated to the Communications and Multimedia Ministry integrated complex near Kapayan in 2011.
Wisma Radio has been left abandoned, while the old RTM building has been demolished to make way for a new government agency building.
In Sabah, RTM started with Radio Malaysia in 1971 and, subsequently, colour television broadcasting in 1980.
The history of Sabah radio broadcasting, however, started between the 1920s and 1930s, with the establishment of the VCK station in Labuan and VQA station in Jesselton during the British era.
Hajiji said RTM’s early start in Sabah took shape at Wisma Radio, hence the building has historical value for the people here.
“Not just Wisma Radio, but other buildings like it. They must be preserved for the future generation.”
He said RTM has been modernised since he worked for the national broadcasting station in 1976 as a radio host at the age of 21.
“Nowadays, everything is done with the push of a button. In my time, the equipment was manually operated.” – The Vibes, April 1, 2021
