The Forgotten

During the weekend of the Chinese New Year my brother Mustapa of Port Kelang alerted me of a Blog belonging to Hasbullah Latiff former journalist of RTM Sabah on RTM’s past and present. Both of them has been in touch ever since they came into the same group at Umrah in Mekah a couple of years back.

I am not familiar with Hasbullah because of the distance and nature of our work but met him a few times during our working days. We have updated each other’s existence through mutual acquaintances.

With his permission I am reproducing his post. His lamentation echoes the feelings of fellow RTM’ veterans.

Friday, February 12, 2010

RTM, Glamour atau Berbakat. 

Usia RTM menjangkau lebih 60 tahun. Institusi penyiaran tertua negara banyak melahirkan penyiar yang disegani dan dihormati diperingkat glokal dan global. mereka merupakan penyiar yang mahir dan benar-benar menonjol didalam bidang masing-masing seperti juruhebah radio (DJ), pengulas sukan, pengulas perisitiwa, berlakon drama, pengarah drama radio/tv, penyanyi, pengarah muzik, penerbit tv dan lain-lain.

Mereka kini semuanya telah bersara dan ada yang sebahagian besarnya telah kembali ke alam baqa. Hanya yang tinggal ialah nama dan kenangan kepada kawan-kawan yang masih hidup dalam usia tua.

Dari mula ia ditubuhkan sehingga tahun 80han, nama RTM sukar dicabar dalam semua bidang. Selpas itu, dalam era abad 20 RTM semakin menurun dan tinggallah nama besar bekas penyiar RTM dalam lipatan sejarah. Ini kerana nama-nama besar tersebut, seperti Abu Bakar Ahmad (Pak Bakar), Hashim Amir Hamzah, Dol Ramli, Siti Hawa Zain, Datin Norlidar Saidi, Dato Jaafar Kamin, Hj.Azhar Hj.Ahmad, Mahani Ujang, Siti Fatimah Noor, Datuk Johari Salleh, Datuk Ahmad Nawab, Datuk S.M.Salim, Datuk Aziz Wok, Nor Azah Aziz, Jamsari Mohamad, Roslee Jalil, Karim Muhammad, Jamaluddin Alias (penyanyi lagu-lagu patriotik RTM), Amran Hamid, Zulkarnian Hassan dan ramai lagi termasuk yang masih berada penyiaran kini, seperti Hj.Hasbullah Awang, Datuk Ab.Rahman Ab.Hamid dan beberapa orang lain.

Bagi peminat rancangan-rancangan RTM awal tahun 60han hingga 80han, tentu mereka tau siapa nama-nama besar yang disebutkan itu. Ibarat mereka didalam bidang sukan, mereka para pemenang pingat emas yang mewakili negara, tetapi tidak ada sebarang pingat dan hadiah cemerlang diperingkat awal, kecuali selepas tahun 80han hingga kini, wujudnya pelbagai hadiah cemerlang, kualiti dan lain-lain.

Bagaimana mereka gah dan tersohor, kerana mereka mempunyai bakat semulajadi masing-masing sebagai juruhebah, pelakon dan penerbit drama, penyanyi dan pemain muzik serta pengacara. Bakat yang ada mereka, digunakan sepenuhnya demi memartabatkan RTM sebagai penyiar ulung negara. Mereka tidak mencari nama kerana GLAMOUR.

Saya sempat bergaul dengan semua mereka yang saya namakan itu, dan banyak saya belajar dari pengalaman mereka. Mereka ialah insan tidak sombong dan angkuh dengan bakat kurniaan ALLAH kepada mereka. Saya mula berjinak dengan penyiaran awal tahun 70han. Dari Pak Bakar hingga terakhir dengan datuk Jumaat Engson, bekas Pengarah Penyiaran kini di Angkasapuri Kuala Lumpur, banyak saya menimba pengalaman didalam bidang penyiaran.

Dari semua yang saya temui resolusi kata-kata mereka “PENYIAR YANG BERJAYA, MEREKA YANG TAHU BAKAT YANG ADA PADANYA DAN BERUSAHA MENINGKATKAN MUTU PERSEMBAHANNYA, DEMI SEBUAH NAMA IAITU, RTM…”

Hari ini saya dengar, saya nampak dan bergaul, ramai dikalangan generasi baru RTM lebih kepada glamour, kerana penyiar lain, baikpun di stesen tv dan radio mampu menandingi kemampuan penyiar RTM dalam banyak segi, terutama glamour dan publisiti melampau, sedangkan penyiar RTM kurang mendapat publisiti. Bagi saya, publisiti perkara kedua, yang penting, nama kita gah di persada alam penyiaran sebagai penyampai berita berita terbaik, pengacara tv terbaik, pengulas sukan yang tepat dan padat, penerbit tv yang sentiasa tidak kering dengan ilham dan daya kreativiti tinggi.

Kita ada IPPTAR, kenapa tokoh-tokoh penyiar lama, dahulunya ramai yang masih hidup tidak digunakan kepakaran mereka, bagaimana cara mereka bekerja, komitmen mereka dan lain-lain.

Artikal didalam blog saya ini,sekadar memberi pandangan agar RTM bangkit kembali seperti era 50han,60han,70han dan 80han. Kita mampu bangkit, tetapi biarlah berusaha bersungguh-sungguh kerana kita ada pakar dan mereka yang arif didalam semua bidang penyiaran. Sedangkan kita ada sekolah, tetapi sekolah kita untuk orang lain. Kenapa?

Pak Menteri harus tahu.. dari IPTAR (Institut Penyiaran Tun Ab.Razak) institut yang kerapkali saya pergi belajar untuk penerbitan radio/tv dari tahun 70han hingga bersara (2004) dinaikkan taraf kepada IPPTAR (Institut Peyiaran dan Penerangan Tun Ab.Razak).

Semasa masih bergelar IPTAR, kita menerima banyak pelatih dalam dan luar negara serta pelajar IPTA tempatan. Tetapi sehingga sekarang masih belum diiktiraf sebagai institut yang laku sijilnya….kenapa?

RTM harus bangkit dan tebus kembali maruah penyiaran yang kini direbut oleh pihak lain.

Kenapa terjadi demikian, kerana RTM sendiri cuba melupakan

Posted by hasbullahlatiff at 1:04 AM

I find there is some truth in what Hasbullah says. Though he echoed the laments of compatriots of his period, the only different is that the time warp between the pioneering days and the present has to be taken into account. Nothing can compare centuries of treasure of experiences combined possessed by the pioneering broadcasters. Ways must be exploited to apply or adapt those so called experiences to the need of the present situation. Those serving RTM officers are too busy to look into ways of assimilating or making good use of these experiences.

After 15 years into retirement I find truth in the old adage among us former broadcasters “we just fade away”. Soon we are forgotten. Those heard over the air and appeared on TV may sometime find embarrassment should they be recognised by aging fans.

Most of us find solace in catching up with things we missed when performing our chosen career seriously. I spent the first half year of retirement seeing the whole country and getting to know the ground, especially my ROOT and the place where my ancestors and heritage originated. The time spent catching up with long lost relatives and friends were worth the while. We were breathless for time taking care of our children in chasing our career, now we dotted on the grandchildren as if to make up for the lost time. Most of us spent substantial time getting involved in social activities. Now we find a new pool of friends with similar interests in the neighbourhood. The hereafter is close to our heart in this closing chapter of life.

So much so, broadcasting and RTM is no more a priority to most of us but when posting like Hasbullah came along it evokes sentimentalities, strong memories and the spirit de corps of the bygone days.

Except for the far and in between invitations in the early days of retirement I have not been to Angkasapuri proper for ages. The tight security at the gate these days made the place look like Fort Knox or Kamunting Camp which really put me off. I just assume visitors are not wanted. How do you operate an entertainment icon when it has an adverse effect on those who are suppose to be the target audience. Why the over protections. It is time the Ministry move over to their proper place in Putrajaya and make room for the Broadcasting Department RTM to bring back some of their services and staff scattered all over Kelang Valley under one roof, if not in the same compound at Bukit Putra. I just wonder if the Minister and his officials really understand the slogan the Prime Minister espoused, while having RTM’s staff going separate ways and not together as ONE. Until they do then the slogan RTM has been espousing has no meaning to RTM itself. Come on, Dato Seri Utama and Dato’ KSU, move over.

As for training all of us were brought up in the old school ways, learn as you work, until IPTAR came along. IPTAR and its successor IPPTAR has gone off its tangent from its original objectives. Neither has it advance like many similar institutions in the public and private sectors. The others have upgraded itself even to university level and producing productive graduates in demand in the open market. IPPTAR has been supplied with sophisticated training facilities and equipment which has not been properly utilised. It has beautiful and spacious buildings and extensions. Its Director has been upgraded from the former Super-scale G to JUSA “B”. I wouldn’t be able to explain the rationale behind the upgrading. Perhaps somebody owes us veteran explanations on that. Veteran RTM will be happy to hear of the news that the training centre follow the footsteps of other similar institutions in producing graduates rather than giving out certificates of participation which become relics on the walls. Come on Dato’ Pengarah IPPTAR, go on or go off.

Broadcasting has advance by leap and bound from its pioneering days following sophisticated technological developments. In this country the coming of the private sector into broadcasting has added new dimension. Comparison of the pioneering days and the present cannot be equated on the same scale. No way can we compare the sedate and relaxing ways of operations when RTM was a monopoly to the present hustle and bustle of chasing time at the behest of competion between stations.

In the old days the updating depended on the presence of a representative on the location or the phone. Then the telex machine ruled. It was accompanied by the national news agency Bernama later. The telex was overtaken by the telefax (fax). Now it is the computer and the internet which has become mobile and smaller. The computer chips has revolutionised the media world and its coverages. It has even become its competitor. Now even the DJs in the studios very much depended on it to update themselves. So comparison of the old and the current become lopsided.

As for pioneering broadcasters of our time we use to carry the heavy wired tape machines to interviews. It became slightly lighter with expensive but reliable Swiss made machine Nagra with its open reel tape or its cheaper but problematic competitors. When the light cassette tapes Sony recorder came into the market there were long and unnecessary argument to its broadcasting quality but at the end common sense and practicality prevail. Now all has gone mobile, mini recorder, phone, ipod and the like. So much for radio operation.

Over TV the advancement was almost similar. Initially the film cameras ruled. Then the 2 inches machines became obsolete, taken over by the smaller 1 inch tapes operations. Later the Beta Cassette inches its way and dump the bigger and heavier machines. It seems these days the DVD rules the operations. The same goes the way of the cameras for news and programme materials gatherings. I could see even BBC, CNN and Al-Jazeera resorting to mobile to file on the field reports. I understand even Bernama TV is utilising G3 facilities for its outside broadcasts and field coverages. I have to update myself on this.

Everything seems to have gone smaller and lighter. So there is not much room for comparison on the same scale between the old and new.

RTM has to arise to the challenges not only from its private sector competitors as well the local satellite broadcaster and much more from the New Media which has arrived aggressively to capture the heart (and perhaps the mind) of the world.