Wednesday, August 25, 2010

The Most Intimidating Interview - On the Radio

We're slowly making our way to the end of August, and in less than a week, the nation once again celebrates Independence Day for the 53rd time. As usual, I was listening to the radio on the way to work this morning, and to mark the celebrations, they had a new special segment interviewing powerful and influential women of Malaysia (or Malaya) from the days gone by - mostly from the time right after independence. Today, they interviewed the very first woman ambassador.

Now, I've always heard this particular radio dj interview people in the mornings, and I'd say she prepares herself quite well, in the sense that she doesn't ask stupid questions, and is able to handle any topics they're discussing about either if it's regarding business, politics or any other current issue. I do find her voice a wee bit annoying, though... just a wee bit.

The person interviewed this morning (to be known as PIM hereafter), however, was a totally different kettle of fish. I suppose growing up at a time when things were different, she had a totally different way of viewing things from the dj, from her priorities, how she viewed the nation's political system at that time,etc. She answered questions with a certain degree of vehemence, and peppered her interview with subtle sarcasm and mild intimidation and somewhat mocking, quietly making us, the listeners perceive the dj as an ignorant young woman! There was this time when the dj asked her about her opinion on the racial riots of 1969, and PIM  emphasised on the importance of the Rukun Negara (loosely translated as the Nation's Tenets), and turned to ask the dj if she knew what the tenets were. (Naturally, I imagined her turning towards the dj in slow motion)

The dj, in good humour, replied that they were printed at the back of exercise books used by school kids. The silence was so thick that you could hear the radio static. PIM asked her again if she could recite them then and there. The dj gave a weak laugh, indicating defeat. Funny really, because I've always imagined that it was the dj who would be the witty/sarcastic/evil one who had the power to make the interviewee squirm in their seats.

It kind of makes me wonder how I would handle such a situation, to be put down so many times, quietly and quickly that way. It was as though PIM was a trained assassin and the dj was the unwitting victim. The request to recite the tenets was certainly not the first and definitely not the last either. I tried recalling the tenets later in the morning after listening to the show,  and surprisingly, I could. I suppose all those years in school reciting the tenets during assembly really drilled them firmly into my long term memory. However, had I been in the dj's shoes at that point, I'd have forgotten them due to frayed nerves!

11 comments:

  1. Wow. What a horrible experience for that DJ. I'm sure I'd have wilted too under the same circumstances. I wonder why the interviewee was so passive-aggressive?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have no idea, but I have a theory... based on my judgement of some of the older people in this country. They seem to perceive us, the younger generation as a bunch of people who are spoilt, ignorant and silly with everything thrown our way easily. I know the dj is still somewhere in her late twenties. Maybe that's why she was behaving that way?

    What they don't realise is that while opportunities these days are abundant, the competition is as stiff as ever...

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm not surprised about the DJ's experience as I was forced to memorise my times tables than the Rukun Negara back in school days.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Surprisingly I just tried reciting the rukun negara and found myself able to word for word :D

    ReplyDelete
  5. unicorn girl: yeah... funny how they had the rukun negara at the top and the times table at the bottom. NAturally I was forced to memorise the times table, but the rukun negara stuck as well.

    nick: That's cool. Long live long term memory? ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. That seems both unkind and unnecessary.

    ReplyDelete
  7. hmm, i don't think it's right for PIM to do so to the dj. she should know that she is well prepared with this kind of knowledge and not the dj. the dj might ask her back about the dj stuff and i don't think she could answer it too.

    happy merdeka day terra :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I dunno, la... could she have done it on purpose, or is that the way she interacts with everyone?

    ReplyDelete
  9. The tenants!! I want to know them! What are they!?!? Where can I read about this!?!?

    And yes, it does appear that the DJ had a rough go of it.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Here's the link... the English translation is at the bottom of the page.

    tenets

    ReplyDelete

IT's THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN

Time for the Annual Appraisal again.  It's a cloudy Sunday afternoon, and I had just finished giving scores to my subordinates on their ...