RFS playing the right tunes for Ibans
The younger generation of Ibans are taking Radio Free Sarawak into their homes, causing radio shortage in Sibu and Sarikei.
(Free Malaysia Today) – The 10th Sarawak state election has sparked the usual scarcity of accommodation, transportation and halls. But in Sarikei town an additional item has unexpectedly sold out – shortwave radios.
A young native, who only wanted to be known as Jefferson, told FMT that a group of Ibans youths had pooled together their money to buy up all the radios in Sarikei to cart back to their longhouses.
There the radios are tuned to Radio Free Sarawak (RFS) so that the elders can understand the events that are unfolding outside their villages.
“In just three weeks that group had bought up all the shortwave radios in Sarikei town,” Jefferson said.
He added that not every native had heard of RFS but “those who have are hungry for more.”
According to him, Sibu town is also facing a similar shortage although the radios can still be purchased in smaller stores there.
Jefferson estimated that about 30 longhouses in both districts are now listening to the London-based radio station.
“It’s the younger generation that has pushed their parents to listen to RFS,” he said.
“Many elders now trust RFS as the only credible source of information that is relevant to their lives.”
Alternative media
RFS was launched last November on the promise of bringing alternative news to the people of Sarawak.
The two faces behind it are Clare Rewcastle Brown, the sister of former British Prime Minster Gordon Brown, and Peter John Jaban, the grandson of a Dayak headhunter.
The radio station has struck a deep chord with the natives as the interviews and talk shows are in the Iban language.
Sibu and Sarikei have a 98.21% and 84.09% of Iban population respectively.
In February, Rewcastle Brown predicted that RFS would counter balance any intimidation of the voters by Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud, in the state elections.
She believed that RFS would have a huge effect on Sarawakians and that there was a strong movement towards change.
Deputy Minister for Information, Communication and Culture, Joseph Salang Gandum, however felt otherwise.
He dismissed the radio station’s influence with a remark that “not many natives listen to an English radio station where the host has an English accent.”
