Philip Tay Joo Thong - On Air

All photographs by Mun Chor Seng unless otherwise indicated.

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National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

Name(s): Yeo, George Yong-Boon, author of foreword.

Title: On air : untold stories from Caldecott Hill / foreword by George Yeo.

Description: Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Editions, [2019]

Identifier(s): OCN 1090528930 | eISBN 978-981-4868-11-2

Subject(s): LCSH: BroadcastingSingaporeHistory. | Broadcasting SingaporeAnecdotes. | BroadcastersSingaporeAnecdotes.

Classification: DDC 384.54095957dc23

Printed in Singapore

This book is dedicated to Mrs Wong-Lee Siok Tin who devoted her life to the profession of broadcasting in Singapore. Her tireless devotion and critical instincts at the helm of the national broadcasting station led the station through the early and difficult times of nationhood.

Chapter 2 The Love of Broadcasting
Recollections of Vernon Palmer

Chapter 3 Reflections on the Hill.
Recollections of Vernon Martinus

Chapter 4 Radio and TV Memories
Recollections of Maureen Liew

Chapter 5 The late Mrs Wong-Lee Siok Tin:
Friend, Fellow Collegian, Boss by Raymon T H Huang

Chapter 6 RTS to SBC and the Rise of Chinese Drama
Recollections of Cheng Tong Fatt

Chapter 7 From Statutory Board to Privatisation
by Moses Lee Kim Poo

Chapter 8 From Banker to Broadcaster:
Encounter with Ernest by Clement Mesenas

Chapter 15 Behind the News Scene
Recollections of Ee Boon Lee

Chapter 18 TV Documentaries in the Central Production Unit
by Chan Heng Wing

Chapter 19 An Unlikely Broadcaster (Part 1)
Informing and Educating by Kenneth Liang

Chapter 22 Chinese Current Affairs: My 30 Years in Broadcasting
by Choo Lian Liang

Chapter 26 Grand Prix, Talentime and all the Entertainment
by George Favacho

Chapter 28 An Unlikely Broadcaster (Part 2)
Entertaining by Kenneth Liang

Chapter 30 Living Under One Roof as Daisy
by Daisy Irani Subaiah

Chapter 33 The Road to Radio Singapore International
by Sakuntala Gupta

Chapter 35 Media Competition: Mediacorp vs MediaWorks
by Anthony Chia

Chapter 38 Technology Disruptions on the Hill:
From Analogue to Digital by Mock Pak Lum

Chapter 40 Lights, Cameras, Sound and Action
by Mun Chor Seng

Chapter 45 Finance and Administration on the Hill
by Param Ajeet Singh Bal

Chapter 46 Memories are Made of This
by Raymond Anthony Fernando

Chapter 49 43 Years on the Hill: Loving Every Moment
by Philip Tay Joo Thong

SHE IS NOT HERE TO contribute her recollection but her role in the early days of Singapores independence was critical. I am referring to Mrs Wong-Lee Siok Tin who was Head of Broadcasting for many years. I knew her after joining the board of Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) in 1985. I was then a Colonel in the Singapore Armed Forces. Yong Pung How was the Chairman and Cheng Tong Fatt the Deputy Chairman. Mrs Wong-Lee circulated to us a draft speech she had written for Prime Minister (PM) Lee Kuan Yew who had agreed to speak at a dinner marking the 50th anniversary of radio broadcasting. It was not certain then whether PM Lee could attend because he had come down with a bad cold after an overseas trip. At the last moment, he did. I noticed that his speech followed almost word-for-word the draft penned by Mrs Wong-Lee. He said at the outset that, despite his not feeling well, he felt an obligation to turn up because he was grateful for the support the staff of Radio Singapore gave him over many years. Mrs Wong-Lee covered Lee Kuan Yews overseas travels and constituency visits as a radio producer for many years from the early 60s. Chan Heng Wing remembers a diminutive Siok Tin from Central Productions Unit chasing after Lee Kuan Yew, lugging along the heavy Nagra tape recorder.

The history of national broadcasting in Singapore is inseparable from the history of independent Singapore. Lord Reiths classic encapsulation of the mission of the BBC to inform, to educate, to entertain applies as much to Singapore broadcasting. I adopted it as the mission of the new Ministry of Information and the Arts (MITA). As a young country in formation, the role of broadcasting in education was a high priority for Lee Kuan Yew and that first generation of leaders. Speaking good English, wholesome content, elevating the use of Mandarin over dialects, careful treatment of racial and religious issues, aligning coverage of foreign affairs with Singapores foreign policy, were all important considerations. Those responsible for running radio and television broadcasting, especially in news and current affairs, did not have an easy time. Instructions from the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) were frequent. Despite or because of high-level attention, the spirit was high. From the top down, the remarkable men and women of Singapore broadcasting were fired up by a sense of mission. Their contribution to Singapore deserves to be recognised, as it was by Lee Kuan Yew.