Underground radio station gears up for elections

Radio Free Sarawak (RFS) is gearing itself for the next general election, announcing a local call-in number for its listeners to interact with the underground radio station.

"It is important, particularly during an election period, for listeners to the show to be able to contact us directly with their problems and issues and to give us their views and opinions," said the station's founder Clare Rewcastle Brown, who also owns the whistleblower website Sarawak Report.

The 13th general election is widely speculated to take place as early as March or June this year.

In addition, the London-based station is bringing in new presenters when it relaunches tomorrow, namely renowned Iban-speaking presenter Christina Suntai, and the returning Peter John Jaban (above), the station's original deejay who goes by Papa Orang Utan.

World exclusive story

To kick off the launch, the station is also teasing with promises of "exposes, beginning with a world exclusive story involving a Sarawak-based company," said Rewcastle Brown in a statement yesterday.

The anti-Taib station will also be reverting its radio frequency to its original shortwave 15420 kHz, after changing it last year to overcome a jamming attack during the Sarawak elections April last year.

It will broadcast from 6pm to 8pm daily.

RFS is noted for its vocal criticisms of Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud and presents itself as an alternative to "pro-government broadcasts" aimed at rural Sarawakians.

Its previous reports had highlighted native customary rights issues and accused Taib's global business empire of corrupt practices.

On the eve of the Sarawak elections, the station was jammed by an established Belgian broker of transmission times, whom Rewcastle Brown alleges had been paid an estimate US$108,000 for the job.