The indigenous voice: Broadcasting difference
By Zan Azlee
Speaking to the team that runs ASYIKfm is hugely refreshing. They operate the first radio station that serves the Orang Asli, or indigenous people, in Peninsular Malaysia whose population only stands for less than 10 percent of the total 30 million population.
“First and foremost, our main objective is to inform, educate and create social awareness for the Orang Asli in the country,” says Mariama Uda Nagu, station manager for ASYIKfm. Seeing that they are only a minor segment of the population, the mainstream media outlets tend to forget them. Hence, there is rarely any media content produced that caters to the interests and needs of the Orang Asli. Frankly, it is almost non-existent.
So ASYIKfm has a huge responsibility to its target audience and community. They inform the Orang Asli community of national happenings and issues so they are connected to the country. They also highlight issues in their own community.
Long-time producer, Majid Adik, who has been been with ASYIKfm since 1986, says that this has been the mission of the station from the very beginning. He personally has traveled into the far reaches of rural Malaysia to highlight the plight of the Orang Asli.
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