My mother does have fond memories of my grandmother listening to Rediffusion when she was a young girl. It reminds her of grandmother taking her out to have morning kaya toast with half-boiled eggs or either a small packet of nasi lemak if not pratas to go with a cup of black coffee, on a slow and easy early Sunday morning.
From that brown box came songs of flawless sound quality that remain in older Singapoeans’ heart to this day. The elderly might not understand some part of the programme, but they love Rediffusion a lot. They don't really care about whatever dialects, what they want is the entertainment provided by the Rediffusion which isn't the same as the radio. They can even laugh and self -talking while listen to the Rediffusion by themselves. They don't really like the day show provided by the television, and on top of that, they wont want to waste electric city, which is now getting more expensive.
Rediffusion had request programmes, such as Here's To The Ladies (for female requesters only) and Where The Boys Are (male requesters only). It was introduced by epony-mous theme songs rendered by Frankie Avalon and Connie Francis respective-ly. Not only that, deejays like Peggy Ross, Noreen Sales, Mike Ellery, Larry Lai and Eric Lim were familiar voices and literally household names.
This has been a passage of life in Singapore. And now a sound of the 1960s will soon be silenced. Sure, a new technological world has arrived, but we have lost the world we knew and grew up in.
Government should at the first save the company from closing by giving them financial aid. Why can't let these elderly enjoy their live? If given the opportunity, older Singaporeans would also want to subscribe for their children to listen to the variety of programmes that Rediffusion offer, so that their children too can experience what they did when they was a younger.
Goodbye old friend. And thank you for the music.