This is kinda ironic dontcha think?.... A few months ago, 98.7FM removed Radio DJ Chew Soowei from the air due to what I deem as unjust reasons. Here is an excerpt from Soowei herself regarding her removal from 98.7 FM
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Dear friends,
I wish I had told it to you in person but I wasn’t given the chance to.
My final show “Pillowfight with Soo” concluded Sat July 12 at 3.00am on 987fm.
Why? I’ve had a few people message me on Facebook asking me why I am not part of the new schedule out on 987FM. Let me give you the short version of the story.
The Monday after the July 12th episode of “Pillowfight With Soo”, first day of my annual leave, I received a phone call stating that I’d been taken off air and when I do come back from my leave I was coming back to a work situation where I was basically just “Helping Out/Subbing Others” around the office. The main reason as it was given to me for being taken off was that my English Language isn’t proficient enough and my hosting is and I quote “Just like I learnt it from the Outdoor emcees in Orchard Road”.
In the last year I was in and out of the office, been constantly told that there were really bad grammatical errors with my language and yet so many times when I asked for an example and help it couldn’t be produced. One of the few times it was produced, he had to call a fellow colleague to confirm the error because he didn’t know what was really truly wrong with me saying: “If only Shan sings as well as his cousin.” Out of these times, my favorite one would be an email stating that my diction was really bad and I should listen to American Radios Jocks and learn an American accent.
If my Spoken English is bad, people wouldn’t understand me. If people cannot understand me inevitably they wouldn’t tune in.
If so, how do I explain a steady increase in my listenership (bearing in mind I started on a shift that did not exist before I went on)? Why has my public profile increased in the last year? Why do I have more clients coming to me for public shows more than ever? And lastly, if my English is so bad, why did clients sponsor “Pillowfight With Soo” over and over again in a back-to-back fashion?
I have a long way to go with my spoken language and I am far from perfect. But Radio to me has always been about connecting with people. I chat with you… you chat with me. The rest of the world listens in on our conversation in a voyeuristic fashion. I’ve always done my shows with the idea that I am speaking to only one person and if that one person gets me… we’ve connected. I am who I am. If you bumped into me in the streets I will sound like how you hear me on Radio. No pretense, No announcer-ish bravado and certainly no fake American accent. As far as Radio is concerned, if you understood me on a human level, I’ve done my job. You might hear some poetic justifications on why I was removed or maybe how loved I was in the station or how much has been done to help me out…so I’m writing this note so you will get a glimpse of the truth rather speculate the situation. I hope you don’t think that I’m just venting my bitterness. There is none looking back at the great times I had with my 987 family. So with all that said… I am taking myself out of the “Equation” and my last day will be on 4th August 2009
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You can view the full article from a forum here
http://forum.jobscentral.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2596
Its really contradicting and hypocritical of them to actually rope Ris Low in co-host a show which is on the air EVERY WEEKDAY. I heard a pre recorded sneak of her hosting and boy I cringed within the first 20 seconds. I know, I know she garners much publicity and listeners will definitely tune in just to satisfy their predictions of how much of a fool she'll make herself to be. But if it drags on, listeners will definitely grow tired of her which is why I think Mediacorp Radio is making this a 'trial' and see how far the public's reaction and tolerance will be. And to put her at with Shan and Roz?? Last I remembered, the last time the three of them appeared together, she was the fodder of jokes and indirect sarcasm from Shan and Roz and in my opinion, even Roz has a problem with her joining her show. But what the 'bosses' want, she has to accept.
Remember, these are the same'bosses' that gave the 'reasons' on why Chew Soowei had to be removed. And the main man behind it all was Daniel Ong, Mr.Kiasee himself.
