Radio Free Sarawak, aimed as an alternative voice for Sarawakians, went on air November 15. In an e-mail to FMT, the Bruno Manser Foundation, said that the new alternative radio station will have two daily broadcasts on shortwave, presumably in Iban and Bahasa Malaysia. 'It aims at Sarawak's rural communities who lack access to independent media,' stated the e-mail. It is an open secret that the media in Sarawak are strictly controlled by the state government under Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud and logging companies who own and control all major media outlets in the state.The transmission details of Radio Free Sarawak are as follows:
1st transmission: 0630-0730 local time (GMT +8) on 7590 kHz (short wave)
2nd transmission: 1800-1900 local time (GMT +8) on 15680 kHz (short wave).
(Kim Elliott & Arnaldo Slaen, Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Radio Netherlands Media Network blog post:
Radio Free Sarawak goes on the Air
Radio Free Sarawak, aimed as an alternative voice for Sarawakians, went on air this morning. In an e-mail to Free Malaysia Today, the Bruno Manser Foundation, said that the new alternative radio station will have two daily broadcasts on shortwave, presumably in Iban and Bahasa Malaysia. “It aims at Sarawak’s rural communities who lack access to independent media,” stated the e-mail.
It is an open secret that the media in Sarawak are strictly controlled by the state government under Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud and logging companies who own and control all major media outlets in the state.
The transmission details of Radio Free Sarawak are as follows:
1st transmission: 0630-0730 local time (2230-2330 UTC) on 7590 kHz
2nd transmission: 1800-1900 local time (1000-1100 UTC) on 15680 kHz
The e-mail had also attached a message from the producers of Radio Free Sarawak. Below is the message;
“Please send the details to all your Sarawak friends so that they know the existence of the radio-which will become an alternative news source to the Sarawakians, especially to those who stay in the interior. The folks in the interior have been fed with a monotonous one-sided views from the ruling parties - if at all they can receive the TV and radio transmissions. So they need another avenue - and Radio Free Sarawak intends to fill in this gap.”
(Source: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/ )
Logging
7590 Radio Free Sarawak
Heard then as well,on the 19th, but at 2238 UTC, with a great signal, about S5-S6 level. Male announcer with commentary talks in Bahasa Malaysia about Malaysia and India, and the social injustices in Malaysia. Mention of a 2002 conference in Kuching. This was apparent interview over a phone linefrom the studio. At 2243 the audio disappeared, no fade -out just disappeared. Signal came back on at 2249 ( studio link down?) By 2252, the signal was again becoming quite unstable and I was hearing two signal paths from about2256 to about 2310. At first I thought it was interference, but it was the same speaker with a delay of a few micro-seconds. (long and short paths). Unfortunately the signal slowly deteriorated to almost poor by 2314. Did manage to catch bit's of the ID at 23:29 and off at 2330 hours. Best heard on the trap-sloper, then switched to the 150 foot longwire for quieter conditions. Did get about five minutes of recording time on a new digital recorder, but I hoping to catch them at their sign-on (the best chance). Will keep-on trying.
(Edward Kusalik in Daysland, Alberta, Canada/Cumbre DX)
