Letter to Khalil Yaakob - Part 1

Kepada : -

YB Tan Sri Khalil Yaakob,
Minister of Information,
Kementerian Penerangan Malaysia,
Tingkat 8, Angkasapuri,
50610 Kuala Lumpur.


27th May 1999

YB,

RE : ASSISTANCE FOR EMPLOYMENT WITH RTM CHANNEL 4
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My purpose in writing this letter is to make a strong appeal to you to assist me in securing a part-time job as a disc-jockey over one of RTM's radio stations i.e. Channel 4. While it is commendable that the government is constantly trying to promote a caring society concept, it is rather ironic that certain people within RTM do not seem to be practising this policy. It even grieves me to inform you that it's my contention that certain quarters are trying desperately to frustrate me in securing the above job for reasons best known to themselves. First of all, YB, allow me to give you a background about myself. I'm a blind individual & a singer by profession, having recorded 3 music albums up to now. At the same time, I have a great interest in being a disc jockey cum programme producer & I have had experience working in this field at a private radio station in the past. As such, inspite of the fact that I have the experience working as a disc-jockey & having produced programmes, it is most disturbing that I have not been given the opportunity of being employed as a disc-jockey over RTM's channel 4. The following is a chronological order of the facts of the case at hand :-

On 7th April 1999, with the kind consideration of the controller of Channel 4 (En Shafiq Abdullah), I was given the opportunity of attending an audition for the post of part-time disc-jockey over RTM's Channel 4. After the audition, I sought the views of one of the DJ's that I'm acquainted with as he was then overseeing the recording of the candidates & his personal opinion was that I sounded professional as a Dj & he could tell from my voice that I have the experience behind me.

Subsequently, a week later (14th April 1999), I called up En Shafiq to enquire about the results of the audition & was told that they had not as yet arrived at a decision. He assured me that he would call me the very next day to let me know the outcome of his decision. He even gave me an assurance that there would be no discrimination in the choice of candidates for the post of disc-jockey. On Friday (16th April 1999), I called En Shafiq once again & was told by him that I had not been selected for the job. I then proceeded to ask him the reason for his decision, as I strongly feel that I have the qualifications in becoming a DJ for the station. I even suggested to him that I was willing to offer my services free of charge until such time that he was satisfied with my performance. On hearing this, En Shafig said that he would consider giving me an opportunity of being on the air for 1 or 2 hours a week. Before ending the conversation, En Shafiq assured me that he would call me up either on that same afternoon or the very next day to give me confirmation in this respect, which he unfortunately failed to do.

On Monday (26th April 1999), I called up En Shafiq twice, once in the morning and once again in the afternoon, but was told by one of his staff that he was unavailable. I wish to state here categorically that there was hardly any communication between me or his member of staff who answered the phone except for the fact that I left a message for En. Shafiq to return my call. Subsequently, I called the station later in the day whereupon En Shafiq personally answered the phone. On answering my phone call, he sounded terribly annoyed by suggesting that I had been harassing his staff all this while but fortunately I was able to calm him down by apologising inspite of the fact that I had done no such thing. He then proceeded to inform me that he had decided not to offer me the job, as he felt that the other candidates were younger & that they were most suited for the job. En Shafiq also told me that this decision was not reached by him alone but by a committee whose supervisor is someone by the name of Munira Murad, a senior DJ with the station. YB, I wish to inform you that even from the outstart, I felt that she was very bias towards the handicapped because when I spoke to her over the phone a day prior to the audition, she sounded rather hostile & even tried to discourage me from attending the audition. Being the determined person that I am and knowing that she was not able to dampen my enthusiasm, Munira decided to use her influence against me by disqualifying me for the job. Realising that I was terribly disappointed, En Shafiq then tried to pacify me by asking me not to get angry over the fact that I had not been given the job as it could be a "blessing in disguise". I then requested En. Shafiq to personally listen to my audition tape so that he could form his own conclusions as to whether I would be good enough to be given the job as part-time DJ. He agreed to my suggestion and told me that he would call up by tomorrow i.e. Tuesday (27th April 1999) to let me know his decision.
Unfortunately, a week went by & I still did not hear from him. Meanwhile, On Tuesday (27th April 1999), I sent him an audio cassette by registered post consisting of 2 programmes that I had recorded with the private station that I referred to earlier in this letter & on Monday ( 3rd may 1999), I called him up once again & was told that he had not as yet received my cassette. he then ended the conversation by saying that he would call me back in the afternoon on the same day but I have still yet to hear from him.

YB, I wish to bring to your attention the fact that I have brought the matter up with the Director-General of RTM ( Datuk Jaafar Kamin) through his secretary Cik Zainon & was told that he had spoken to En. Shafiq. However, I was told that the final decision rests with the controller of Channel 4. It is most unfortunate that inspite of the fact that I have the qualifications & experience as a DJ cum programme producer, I have been denied the oppotunity of being employed in that respect. I therefore conclude that there are certain quarters in RTM who think that the disabled are not competent enough to become DJs or programme producers, just because they do not possess the gift of sight. This is most distressing, as I am of the opinion that the disabled should be given gainful employment rather than handouts from the welfare department. I am very sure you will agree with me that any disabled person should be given the same opportunities when it comes to employment, as long as they are competent in doing the job. Even if a little training is required, employers should go the extra mile to help them succeed in the job.

Finally YB, I wish to appeal to you to use your good offices to intervene in this matter to assist me in acquiring the post of part-time DJ at RTM channel 4. As like anyone else, I need to have a job in order to survive. This would be a wonderful world indeed if all employers were to adopt the caring society concept, as the government has been trying to convey to the public all this while & at the same time allow the disabled to prove themselves as efficient & productive workers. I wish to thank you sincerely for your kind attention & I certainly hope that this matter can be brought to a just conclusion.

Yours sincerely,
Alfred Ho

NOTE : NO RESPONSE FROM KHALLIL YAACOB AT ALL