TR EMERITUS

来源：《星洲日报》2010.05.17 女网友的丈夫拍到的照片显示，前面的观景舱只有7、8个洋人。（网络照片） （新加坡）洋人吸1口氧气，等於亚洲人吸4口？新加坡摩天轮的观景舱有不同氧气水平，可承载的人数因此也有不同？ 女网友“Amulet”週六（5月15日）晚上和丈夫带著婴儿乘坐摩天观景轮，发现自己所在的观景舱有24、5个亚洲人，“挤挤一堂”，而前头的观景舱竟然只有7、8个洋人，感到非常不解。 回到地面，她向观景轮的服务人员询问︰“他们（洋人）是因为付了更高费用才能包下一个观景舱吗？” 服务人员的回答让她啼笑皆非︰“不，那是因为他们的观景舱氧气水平较低，载不了那么多人……” 女网友和丈夫都认为服务人员的答案没有说服力。她过后將不愉快的经歷连同丈夫拍的照片放上网，短短一天就引来许多网友回应。 多数网友认为，观景轮最高点只有165公尺，不存在缺氧的问题，观景轮公司之所以有“双重標准”可能是为了討好西方游客，给他们留下好印象。 不过也有网友指出，那群洋人可能是订了香檳或新加坡司令鸡尾酒（Singapore Sling）配套，才享有特殊待遇。 摩天轮公司：冷气系统调控气流 “氧气水平低不存在” 针对有职员指某些“观景舱氧气水平较低”，新加坡摩天观景轮公司今日（週一，5月17日）早上受询时澄清︰“这样的说法不正確，每个观景舱的气流是由冷气系统调控，让乘客感到舒適。” 它也说︰“每个观景舱可舒適地容纳多达28名乘客，公司的原则是，在繁忙时段，尽可能把每个舱都装满，以缩短等候时间；而在非繁忙时段，空舱较多，我们则会根据排队情况，適当减少每舱的人数。” 观景轮公司对女网友的反馈表示感谢，並且承诺，將探討如何提昇和改进服务水平，也会確保前线职员继续为每位顾客提供最佳服务。  Read More →

作者：李威淳 以前股价上涨、房价大涨，老板会加薪；现在，不管房价涨、股价涨，老板只会动不动就说要裁员、要关门。薪水没涨，物价涨，房价又涨、生活品质追不上，大家感觉生活很辛苦。 首相纳吉週四开心地对外宣称，受出口上升以及国內需求强劲驱动，马来西亚第一季度国內生產总值（GDP）较上年同期增长10.1%，经济学家预期为9.6%。 据悉，这是马来西亚10年来最快的增长马来西亚是贸易驱动型经济。纳吉还说，政府还將2010年GDP增长预期从之前的4.5%-5.5%上调至6%。 然而，百姓的共同疑问却是：为甚么GDP年年成长，上班族的薪资却倒退呢？ 一国的GDP是由人民共同创造出来的財富，照理说，GDP成长，人民的收入也应增加，生活应该越来越好，但目前的现实环境显然並非如此。当然，財富越来越集中少数人的现象並非大马独有，这是全球化下不可逆转的趋势，但政府必须改善这种趋势。 政府必须重视受薪阶级的福利，因为，他们的所得，决定国家的內需和消费，决定国家的经济水平。一个大学毕业生，月薪水只有1600令吉，生活负担那么重，薪水那么少，经济成长有甚么用？ 穷人愈来愈多，贫富悬殊成为最主要的社会矛盾。令人慨嘆的是，许多穷人即使自力更生，努力工作，依然无法维持基本生活，不得不在贫穷线下苦苦挣扎。 面对贫穷人口与日俱增，当局竟然若无其事，他们轻描淡写地说，去年贫穷问题严重，主要是受金融海啸影响，拉低就业及收入数据，但隨著经济復甦，此一情形势將有所改善。 事实真的如此吗？当官方高唱“10年来最快增速”之际，中下阶层市民的收入不升反跌。事实告诉我们，今日的贫穷问题，主要是因为政府扶贫不力，以及经济结构过於单调而起，金融海啸只是短暂影响，当局將问题完全归咎金融海啸，根本就是混淆视听，推卸责任。 更令人担忧的是，虽说经济改善了，穷人的处境却好不了多少。眾所周知，当前的所谓“復甦”，主要见於房市及股市，由於实体经济表现远远落后投资市场，基层上班族的薪酬迄今未有显著改善，反要面对新一轮通胀的打击，衣食住行样样加价，成为他们不能承受之重。加上政府至今没有推出全面而长远的扶贫政策，基层市民面对茫茫前路，始终不见一丝曙光。悲莫大於贫困，大马穷人的最大悲哀，莫过於看不到脱贫希望。 在全球经济一体化的大环境下，基层职位流失、贫富悬殊加剧是发达地区共同面对的难题。所不同的是，其他地区的政府莫不扭尽六壬，竭力拉近贫富差距。 但在大马，不公义现象无处不在，公务员不时可获得加薪，公僕先天下之乐而乐，可是数十万在职贫 穷人士仍在黑暗中挣扎求存，彷彿成为被遗弃的一群。不管怎么说都好，置业难是大马的客观现实，政府必须面对，必须提出解决办法。房市不仅是经济问题，也是社会及政治问题，不容当局继续扮鸵鸟，一味迴避。 来源：星洲日报／言路  Read More →

A few weeks ago the Media Development Authority called for proposals for a vacant FM frequency 89.3 to add to the “diversity” and “vibrancy” in the local radio scene. It’s exciting to see these two words used in relation to radio. For many years, radio has been called anything but diverse and vibrant, not just in Singapore but also in the United States, where “morning zoos” and tight playlists have grown to greatly restrict what is possible on commercial radio. In the U.S. radio corporations such as Clear Channel, Viacom, Cox, and Entercom have been mining the radio airwaves for years, perfecting their business models, and all but depleting the medium of its life force and vitality. You’ll hear the latest recognizable hits repeated over and over, with the same annoying commercials, and the DJs (if they have them) barely utter a peep. When they do it’s usually voice-tracked (or pre-recorded) or read from standardized note cards. It’s not unfair to say that commercial radio in the U.S. has lost much of its vibrancy and diversity. There have been numerous commentaries and essays written about the demise of commercial radio in the States and elsewhere. There are certainly many new alternative ways to listen to audio that have sprouted up along the way as well. The issue is complicated, and stirs up numerous debates, but many agree that the term “radio” itself has lost much of its luster as the medium representing the voice of the local community. Sometimes it’s nice to know what to expect. Both Ray Kroc (the founder of McDonald’s) and radio figured this out long ago. The formula is a simple one; find out what people will be satisfied with and then make it available and the same everywhere. Radio stations try to do this by appealing to a target audience by programming a specific format; then lather, rinse and repeat. A format is the programming and musical mix that a radio station airs. In fine-tuning a format for a specific market, a radio station attempts to create its own unique local “stationality” through proven images, logos, music and research. The recipe for a hit radio station is tested again and again through focus groups and research studies to ensure that the brand is highly appealing to the largest pool of listeners. You might think of “stationality” as akin to the hook of a song; or a catchy chorus or refrain that gets stuck in your head. It speaks to us as individuals to come back to familiar and likable ground. Sadly of late, Singapore radio has very little stationality. The stations have simply borrowed too much from the global radio marketplace, taking for example all the bland commercialized banter (Bra straps, accents, April fools jokes, and Ryan Seacrest), but none of the intelligent content that radio has been creating over the past decade. The airwaves have grown stale. There are signs of life on the BBC, sometimes Passion/Lush, and with the Mandarin radio dramas that occasionally make it to air, but too few and far between to take much notice. The opening of the new frequency offers Singapore an opportunity to draw from radio’s more creative nature, rather than just its loudest. To my mind, the best way to ensure that is to create a station from an entirely different mold, one that that exudes stationality from the get-go and has been successful in other geographies, including in Asia, but does not yet exist here. I’m talking about non-commercial, public radio. Non commercial is not equivalent to saying “money no enough.” In fact, many of these stations out-earn commercial stations in their markets, but it’s not the main point to their existence. And by not playing to the lowest common denominator of mass media listeners to focus on the bottom line, a refreshing environment is created for the people who work (and volunteer) at such stations and their loyal listeners. They are not simply patterned to mimic commercial stations. As a result, the programming is unique, entertaining and often enlightening, including such programs as World Café, Prairie Home Companion, Car Talk, Saturday Light Brigade, Whad’ya Know? and Studio 360 – all of which provide unique programming elements and defy the cookie-cutter mentality. I listen to these programs and other stations online, bypassing the local predictable airwaves almost entirely. Check out these stations for an idea of what I am talking about: KCRW (morning becomes eclectic), WYEP (where the music matters), WXPN, WBEZ, WYPR, Radio Sagarmatha in Nepal, and Planet FM in Auckland, among many others. Several websites make it easy to find these outlets, such as publicradiofan.com and prometheusradio.org. Many of these stations are found plying their trade on the lower end of the FM dial – frequencies below 92 FM – in the States, the area reserved for non-commercial, public radio stations. These stations along with the newer low power FMs (LPFMs), often owned by universities, non-profits, or community groups, are keeping the creative airwaves alive and make radio worth the listen. After having worked for many years in commercial radio, I moved over to these kinds of radio stations that make a difference in their areas of dominant influence, those being the communities they serve. Most often their formats are difficult to describe. They offer a variety of content, filling the gaps left by the mainstream market. In doing so they also tend to reflect and shape the character of a particular locale in all its diversity. As proposals are written in response to the MDA’s call, in which they stated they did “not intend to limit the future station to any particular genre,” I’d like to suggest the chance for a new model of “genre-busting” radio here. It’s time to draw from radio’s “better half,” so to speak, to investigate the inspired radio content that matters to so many listeners in other parts of the world and to arefully consider why that is so. Many of these programs would enliven the airwaves here as they are, some may not fit at all, and others can be examined to see if distinctive, localized versions might in some way work. The definition and recipe for this kind of station varies from place to place. That’s part of the charm; and the challenge. The aspiration then is to fashion one that is uniquely Singaporean. A new frequency following this advice would not even necessarily compete with the radio stations already on the dial, because it really and truly would be in a class of its own. Bradley C. Freeman, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Nanyang Technological University 31 Nanyang Link, Singapore 637718 Email: [email protected] | Web: http://radio.ntu.edu.sg/  Read More →