Radio Tiga Serumpun RTM-RTB-RRI project Equals Togetherness

[DBVNA] recently carried a news item on the joint cooperation between the state broadcasters in the Muslim nations of Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

The project is to further enhance understanding of the culture and lifestyle in each other country.

The conduit for communication is radio, through the production of radio programs to be aired by Radio Television Brunei, Radio Television Malaysia and Radio Republik Indonesia.

Production values would be enhanced by producers from each of the countries concerned stationed in the other two.

Referred to as simply "the project" in much of the English media coverage it was unfortunate that the official name for the project was omitted. This is a pity.

In the national Bahasa language of the three it is "Radio Tiga Serumpun RTM-RTB-RRI".

There is a growing sense of cooperation between the Southeast Asian Muslim countries in broadcast agreements. Already this year, RTM and RTB have started co-operating on production of TV soap operas.

Hopefully the inclusion of Indonesia in the "Radio Tiga Serumpun RTM- RTB-RRI" project will keep the country on a liberal policy to its local media and steer away from control or any form of censorship.

Fortunately a recent, "misunderstanding" of a broadcast license for Malaysia's ASTRO Network for its Indonesia operations was diplomatically sorted out.

The official launching ceremony on the cooperation of Radio Tiga Serumpun RTM-RTB-RRI was held recently at Petaling Jaya, Selangor, according to a press release.

Present to officiate the launching ceremony was the Malaysian Deputy of Information, Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, a personal representative of Malaysian Minister of Information.

Datuk Ahmad Zahid speaking on behalf of Malaysian Ministry of Information said the signing ceremony signified the close ties that the three countries shared.

The agreement also marked the initiative to further widen the publication activities. In addition to the "Berpantun" programme there will be a co-produced drama series and stage performance.

RTB was represented by its director, Awang Hj Mohammad Yusof bin Hj Abdul Rahman, who said the programme lined up will be informative and educational. He also believed that there would be more cooperation in the technical field.

Also present at the ceremony was Brunei Darussalam's