After spending 2 months down here in BROKEN BANGLE (aka Gelang Patah) in the southern part of Johor, I've come to learn a few things about public broadcasting.
Johoreans, particularly the southerners along our causeway, spanning from Gelang Patah to Pasir Gudang can attest to ONE FREEBIE, i.e the receipt of Singaporean TV, broadcasted by Mediacorp.
As a layman, I don't conduct many public surveys. However, don't be surprised that if a poll for Astro subscribers was ever conducted down here in this region, I'm quite sure that the numbers won't be that favourable to the bean counters, as compared to the other regions in Malaysia, which are "broadcast deficient".
Why am I being so sarcastic? Do I have anything against our Unca Ununda?
Well, not that because the following programmes are being broadcast FREE OF CHARGE i.e no monthly subscription from Mediacorp, nor that because we are not getting HD broadcasts.
Amazing Race | CSI | Chef in Black | Heroes | Project Runway 6 | Samantha Brown's Passport to China | Survivor Samoa | Smallville
Then there are the 2 new Asian premieres: Flash Forward (You can get the latest season off iTunes Store now) and Legend of the Seeker (excellent series written by Terry Goodkind)
In addition, there is also another channel featuring high quality documentaries to the like of Crime & Investigation, National Geographic and the Discovery Channel. This is OKTO.
In addition to the high quality productions, there are weekend concerts (read: full orchestra & operas) every Saturday and Sunday evening.
So, the time has come to terminate my WAH LAI TOI subscription which is still broadcasting NON-HD programmes, whilst charging the Chinese viewers EXORBITANT rates. Anyone done any analysis?
It's ONLY the Chinese who have to succumb this "financial" torture, even though they constitute less than a quarter of the nation's population. I don't see any premiums imposed upon the Malay and Indian Channels.
My deepest sympathies to the Astro On Demand subscribers! Typically they are the local housewives who are just yearning for the next drama episode, but not the quality of the STANDARD DEFINITION broadcast!
Worse still, channels which are broadcast FOC in ALL OTHER PARTS of the world which can receive DIRECT satellite broadcasts such as BBC and CNN are also CHARGED in the BASIC package.
The Middle East, normally perceived to be backwards in civilisation as compared to the WESTERN world, is another testimonial to all this Astro hoax subscriptions.
In Qatar, satellite dishes are legal. You can purchase the dishes the size of a dining table large enough for a gourmet meal for 10 at Tai Thong, down to the standard KUALI sized parabolic pans we are using.
The set top boxes (STB) are also a dime a dozen. You can get different variations from about RM 150 to RM 1000 from the electronic racks of Carrefour! The cheap ones will allow you to receive all the FREE Satellite channels in the world, known as the FREEVIEW service.
Likewise for Dubai, however, with a slight notch of regulation. The only thing you will pay are the SPORTS telecasts and movie channels! I think that is fair! But not to pay for FREE Channels!
Here in Malaysia, we choose channels with ONE Satellite. In the Mid East, you get to CHOOSE which SATELLITE you want to view, then only do you choose the channels. Replacement transponders cost less than RM 50 each!
Even our decoders are like 2 decades old. Back in 1990, decoders in the UK already had STBs accepting 2 or more subscription cards (Ours has 2 slots, but we only have ONE choice!) To determine how outdated our sets are, there exists the ancient PARALLEL and SERIAL ports in the rear (for those who were pioneer subscribers like me, can attest to this)
I will urge those who have not been to the Mid East, visit Qatar and Dubai to VIEW 1st world nation channels! How many know that there is also FASHION TV Arabia and MTV Arabia, whereby lots of gorgeous Lebanese girls pelt our the latest Arabic hits. I can attest that most of them can outdo Mariah Carey, such as Nancy Ajram. However, Malaysia will NEVER show us MTV Arabia!
Can I find supporters to AXE & Cut off WLT? Just like how P1 Wimax is trying to get the masses to SNIP off STREAMYX?
Those pursuing an Economics course and need material on the subject matter of MONOPOLY, this is a great place to start gathering your thesis material.
Finally, I am still pissed that my favourite FREE channels are not available such as FASHION TV and Channel News Asia.
