RADIO FREE SARAWAK - THE PLOT THICKENS



RADIO FREE SARAWAK - THE PLOT THICKENS!!

Jammed Off Air

Long time readers of this blog will be aware that I like to keep a close eye on Radio Free Sarawak. It's an interesting station in the pro-democracy movement in Malaysia, and it is one of a growing number of stations that pays for air-time on the shortwave bands in order to get its message out to those who most need to hear it. Over the last four years, RFS has been broadcasting in the 19 metre band (with the occasional interruption) to villagers living in remote parts of Sarawak.

Last Friday (November 14) the station announced on its Facebook page that it would be suspending its shortwave service until further notice. However, the option of listening online remains in operation (although this is not an option for the station's primary target audience with no Internet). The statement released by the station is as follows:

Radio Free Sarawak (RFS), has today announced that, after months of deliberate jamming and disruption, it is suspending its shortwave broadcasts. Friday 14th November will be the last shortwave transmission on its 15420 slot until further notice, although the station will retain its web presence. The decision was taken after audiences had been driven to frustration by signal disruption and in particular a new form of electronic interference, believed to be caused by a network of jamming devices, which appear to have been erected in various localities around Sarawak. The station expects to be back in 2015.

Later, on its Facebook page, the station indicated that it had received many comments from listeners.


We would like to thank everyone who has been sending us such encouraging comments about the show. We are certainly not giving up! 

However, the station is claiming that underhanded tactics are being used by an agent of a broker of services between other pro-democracy stations and owners of transmitter sites around the world. The online news source SarawakReport.org claims that the agent:


.....also runs a highly lucrative side-line in selling equipment that could be used for jamming.



He is widely suspected to be the agent behind a number of jamming operations against freedom radio stations and he has been formally identified as the person who organised the jamming of RFS broadcasts during the 2011 state elections.



It has been established that he payed a large up-front fee to a broadcast station in Russia to deliberately transmit on the same frequency as RFS.

These are rather serious allegations being made by SarawakReport.

There are two fascinating and informative articles published by this news source that demand further reading. Indeed the first of these articles is quite detailed and too long to discuss here. But suffice to say, I think many readers of this blog will find it most interesting. 

The first article, dated October 27, includes information and video on a "Sting" operation conducted by RFS against the agent for this particular service provider. It is compelling reading:


The second article, dated November 14, gives further details on the story and the announcement of the suspension of shortwave broadcasts:


It would appear that we have not heard the last of this, nor will we hear the last of Radio Free Sarawak on shortwave.

These allegations come on the back of significant awards bestowed on Radio Free Sarawak for its services to its listeners. One is the Communication for Social Change Award 2014, from the University of Queensland, Australia. The second is International Press Institute's Pioneer of Media Freedom Award 2013 for services to isolated Sarawak communities.

73 and have a great weekend everyone,

Rob VK3BVW

Comments

Post a Comment

Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. If your comment isn’t visible right away, it has been received and will be published shortly.

Popular posts from this blog

RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW # 21 - The Kenwood R-5000

Image
RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW #21 (You can click on all photos in this article for a close-up view) KENWOOD R-5000 Performance and Innovation by ROB WAGNER VK3BVW This extended blog post first appeared as a feature article in the February 2024 issue of The Spectrum Monitor magazine. Further details on this excellent publication are available at www.thespectrummonitor.com I have always wanted to own a Kenwood R-5000 receiver. Perhaps I was dazzled by the mystique that appeared to surround this rig. Somehow, it had always been on top of my bucket list of pre-loved rigs that I wanted sitting on the desk of the radio shack.  Finally, one showed up at a local Sunday morning Hamfest, and I happened to have just enough dollars in my pocket to make a purchase. It appeared to have lived a hard life. The case looked knocked around and was pretty dirty inside and out. So, while I would have liked to have owned a unit in better condition, the price was right, and I decided to take it on as a l...
Read more

REVIEW: WELLBROOK ALA1530S+ LOOP ANTENNA

Image
PRODUCT REVIEW: WELLBROOK ALA1530S+ LOOP ANTENNA by Michael Stevenson (Guest Contributor) This is a review and my opinion of the Wellbrook ALA1530S+ P–1 Active receiving Antenna. For further information, details and specifications then please visit: www.wellbrook.uk.com Background I have been a keen shortwave listener since 1970 and have had many receivers and antenna types during this time. Currently I have two wire antennas, a PAR Electronics EF-SWL 15 meter with impedance matching transformer, made in the US; and a home made 17 meter wire with balun. I also have a dedicated multi-stake ground or earthing system to compliment my receiver and antennas. I live in suburbia Port Macquarie, New South Wales on the east coast of Australia. Even though all our electricity wiring is under ground in our housing estate, I live in an environment where there are all types of man-made noises coming from modern electronic and electrical equipment used by my neighbours The wire a...
Read more

RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW #20 - The SONY ICF-5900W

Image
RETRO RECEIVER REVIEW #20 SONY ICF-5900W by CRAIG SEAGER VK2HBT This time around, I thought we might direct our attention to one of the many portable receivers of yesteryear, and it is perhaps appropriate that we choose a manufacturer that continued to produce quality equipment featuring shortwave coverage until long after. I’m sure our Japanese friends will concur with the submission that Japan is a land of short-lived, but enthusiastically embraced fads.  Whether it be karaoke, yo-yos with brains, electronics pets or Pokémon, each craze sweeps the country in such a way that captures the attention of the rest of the world and is usually associated with some pretty smart home-grown technology.   In the mid to late 1970s, shortwave listening (or “BCL”) was the flavour of the month, with teenagers (and some older folk!) compiling large QSL collections and forming SWL and DX clubs all over the country.  Nowadays, you’d be fairly hard-pressed to find any external broadcas...
Read more