Letter to Khalil Yaakob - Part 2

Kepada : -

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

4th Oct 2000

Yang Berhormat,

RE : EMPLOYMENT WITH RTM RADIO 4
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My purpose in writing this letter is to appeal to YB to intervene in a matter which is of great concern to me as a disabled person. The issue that I wish to bring to your attention is with regards to employment opportunities at RTM for the visually handicapped. As you'll only be too aware, our government has always been trying to urge Malaysians to be more caring towards the less fortunate but alas, this message does not seem to have filtered through to some of the top officials at RTM. Allow me here to substantiate what I have just said by relating some of the experieinces that I have gone through during my short stint with RTM Radio 4.

I am a blind individual & a singer cum musician by profession. Apart from being involved in music, I have always wanted to become a disc-jockey and as such, in March 1999, I was reluctantly given the opportunity to audition as a DJ for Radio 4. After having completed my audition, I managed to seek the views of one of the auditioners who is a veteran DJ with the station & was told by him that in his opinion I sounded rather professional. At this juncture, YB, allow me to inform you that prior to attending the audition, I have had past experience working as a part-time DJ with a private radio station which therefore gave me the confidence to apply for this part-time job with radio 4.

After much difficulty & having been given the runnaround by some of the top officials at RTM, I finally managed to secure the job in October of that same year but unfortunately, that was when all my troubles started. As I was given the job reluctantly, it is my contention that the present controller of radio 4 tried to frustrate me in every way possible by placing countless restrictions on me & she even adopted a very uncompromising attitude whenever we had discussions regarding the content of my programme. During my stint with radio 4, I was only allowed to do a weekly programme & what's nore, it had to be pre-recorded, whilst other DJ's always did their programmes "live". When I questioned the rationale as to why I'm not allowed to do a "live" show, even with my wife who is fully sighted, initially helping me out with the studio equipment as she used to do when I was working with the private radio station I was told "Quote" OUTSIDERS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TOUCH ANY OF THE STUDIO EQUIPMENT "Unquote". It is my belief that if the controller of radio 4 namely Pn Rohani was sincere in giving me the job, she would have tried to accomodate me whenever possible but she chose to do the opposite.

Allow me here to site a glaring example about her very uncaring attitude. On one of my programmes, I gave an opportunity to one of the organizers of a charity concert to make a public announcement over the station & believe it or not, I was taken to task by Pn Rohani, as she claimed that the speaker was trying to promote a hotel for free. For your information YB, the charity show that I'm referring to was organized by the Quota Club in aid of the Lupus Association. Incidentally, this charity was held on May 13th 2000 & the occasion was graced by YB Datuk Tan Chai Ho, where I'm happy to inform you that I was one of the participants in that particular charity concert. As I recalled, in her very short public announcement, Dr Lim Chai Leng of the Quota Club only mentioned that they were raising funds to help Lupus patients & that the dinner show would be held at the Eastin Hotel. That aside, on many other occasions, Pn Rohani has tried to stifle my creativity by restricting me on my programme content. I would also like it to be known that both Pn Rohani & her assistant Pn Zainon always try to show their authority whenever they have any discussions with me, where my work is concerned & worst of all I sometimes get the feeling that I'm treated as a non entity, just because I'm visually handicapped. I'm certainly not exaggerating when I tell you that on several occasions, Pn Rohani had told me in no uncertain terms that "Quote" talking to you is a waste of time "Unquote". It is rather unfortunate, that certain civil servants at RTM tend to discriminate & victimize the disabled as & when it suits them. As a blind individual, all I'm asking for is to be given a job but I've come to the conclusion that I will not be keeping my job for long, with people in authority who are biased towards the handicapped.

Sometime in July of this year, the recording studios at RTM were temporary put out of action due to a small fire at the premises & I was duly informed by the radio 4 authorities that my programmes have been put on hold, although I don't see why my programmes ca't be aired "live". YB, believe it or not, I have not been re-employed although it has come to my knowledge that RTM is presently conducting a recruitment drive to audition for some new DJs. It therefore sets me wondering as to why I've been sidelined, even after having worked at radio 4 for more than six months. Surely it would not be too presumptious of me to assume that I would have been given first preference for the post, as I had already worked for the station for quite some time but it looks like the powers that be have decided to side-line me for reasons only best known to themselves.

It has come to my notice that everything in RTM is back to normal, meaning to say that the recording studios are now functioning but until now I have not been notified as regards to my employment status.

Just about a month after I was laid off, I tried to make appointments to meet up with some top officials of RTM namely, En Ali Musa, Datuk Zawawi & En Zainal Abidin Ibrahim with regards to my employment with radio 4. YB, I regret to inform you that all the people mentioned above were inaccessible but finally, I was recommended to sort out my problems with one Pn Adilah, who I was told is the Pengarah Penerbitan at RTM. However, my appointment with her did not bear much fruit, as amongst many things she chided me for having applied for a post with RTM. She even told me that I secured my job through the wrong channels but as I remember correctly, I was offered the post by her predecessor Cik Yong Rafidah, now retired. Finally YB, Pn Adilah even made it a point to warn me not to bring this matter to your attention, as she told me that I would be blacklisted should the RTM authorities come to hear of it. at the end of my short meeting with her, Pn Adilah gave me the assurance that she would look into the matter within a few weeks as regards to my employment status but sad to say I have not heard from her eversince. Some weeks after having met up with Pn Adilah & having not heard from her, I proceeded to ring her at the office where upon I was informed by someone going by the name of PN Aishah that I would have to wait for 18 months to find out as to whether I would be re-employed by RTM. It is rather unfortunate that certain individuals in both the public & private sectors have chosen to ignore government policy by denying employment to the disabled. Rather than dwelling on self-pity as a blind person, I have decided to seek employment in order to survive but as long as there are people who are not prepared to treat the disabled as equals & as such, deny them employment opportunities, then all I can say is that this is certainly a sad state of affairs. YB, allow me here to place on record my sincere thanks to the government for promoting the caring society concept & for constantly reminding the public at large of their responsibilities & obligations towards the less fortunate.

Finally YB, it is my fervent hope that you will use your good offices to take up my case, i.e., with regards to my employment with Radio 4 & that it will come to a favourable conclusion. Thanking you in anticipation & looking forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully,
Alfred Ho

NOTE : NO RESPONSE FROM KHALIL YAACOB