Let there be music...and there was RRB

28.4.2010

Let there be music… And there was Radio RAAF Butterworth!

Just like Aum is the basis of all sounds, music must be the precursor of all forms of speech. Before we learn to speak, we make sounds. Mix it up with the correct musical instruments, and you will have something which is heavenly music is one’s ears. Of course, this is very subjective, just like one of my friends once said, “Music was born in India, grew up in Europe and died in China.” He was obviously referring to clanging cymbals of traditional Chinese opera music. Ignorance is bliss. Just like my mother would not appreciate Led Zeppelin, Queen and Bon Jovi, one man’s music may be another man’s migraine.

My sisters and I grew up being exposed mainly to Indian cinema music since childhood. Piped-in music from the ever playing transistor radio forms like a background musical score in our everyday life. Appa would tune in to the Short Wave (SW) transmissions from Radio Malaysia Tamil, and Singapore Radio Tamil Stations (much to Amma’s constant nagging to shut it off) as Medium Wave (MW) transmissions were of limited durations in the 70s. MW Tamil station transmissions were limited to 5.30 am to 9 am, 1.15pm to 2pm and 5.30pm to 7.30pm on weekdays and only slightly longer on weekends.

Somewhere during the Secondary school, my third eye was exposed to the magic of Western music, to the tunes of Saturday Night Fever and Bee Gees (circa 1978). Just about that time, I knew about the existence of Radio RAAF Butterworth (RRB) which was transmitting from Robena Park in Butterworth.

During Confrontation Era, the Australian Army sent its troops to help the young nation of Malaysia in the spirit of Commonwealth. They stayed on a peace mission after that. Just like biting the hand that feeds, our later Prime Minister Dr M picked a bone to clash with the Aussies. Dr M was referred to as being a recalcitrant by his Australian counterpart, but that is another story. Their base was in Butterworth, hence the radio station to cater to the expatriates’ needs. The locals joined in the folly as their choice of music was more trendy, varied and generally more appealing; unlike the Radio Malaysia Blue (English) Channel which was churning the same Anne Murray, John Denver and Kool & the Gang again and again. Their transmission time was longer, from 6am to midnight on weekdays, and 2am on Saturday nights. Their disc jockeys were more informal, witty and public service announcements were imaginative.

They had their own top-10 songs of the week and top-100 countdown just before New Year which formed like a curtain-raiser to usher in the New Year. We were exposed to many Ozzie musical bands and singers like Air Supply, Midnight Oil, INXS, Men at Work, AC/DC, Bee Gees, Little River Band, Helen Reddy, John Paul Young, Olivia Newton-John, Icehouse, Kamahl, Kylie Minogue, Rick Springfield and the contemporary singers from all over the world in the form of Dianne Warwick, Elton John, Hot Chocolate, Buck Fizz, Kajagoogoo, Blondie, Rod Stewart, Cheap Trick, ABBA, Supertramp, Culture Club, Eurythmics, Diana Ross, Eagles, Commodores, Sheena Easton, Tina Charles, Leo Sayer, Steve Miller Band, Hall &Oates, Foreigner, and the never-ending list go on and on.

A file picture of Mark Wilmott, 15, who was the voice behind Radio Raaf Butterworth's                                      Countdown Top 40 aired every Sunday.

Of course, Amma was not happy that we were listening to English songs. She was worried that we would all marry Mat Sallehs, start eating beef and pretend not to recognise her like Si-Tanggang or like how MR Radha condemned the Indians’ values and practices in his great best selling tear-jerker of a Tamil movie titled “Ratta Kanner”.

All good things must come to an end. The Australian Army started pulling back its personnel from about 1980, and RRB officially ceased transmission around 1983. By then, I had moved on to University and like they say moved on to other greater things in life.

M.R. Radha in his 1954 super duper
 hit movie 'Ratta Kanner'*

*For those in the dark the about the movie 'Ratta Kaneer', it was made at a time when Anglicization of the third world was taking place. Asian countries, just having attained independence from their colonial masters, were eager to shed their restrictive cultures to catch up with the rest of the so-called developed world. M.R. Ratha, the main character, was sent to study in the USA by his wealthy family. He had to return to India to take over the family business after the demise of his father. Here, he expresses his resentment and disgust of the Indian culture, Indian women, his 'non-liberal' thinking and basically anything and everything Indian! He was forced into marriage in spite of his wayward ways. After marriage, he was spending more time in night clubs and brothel, creating the best setting to inculcate ethical Indian values to the audience. His business fails, he becomes a leper and blind, his philandering girlfriend shuns and locks him up.