TAMIL PROGRAMMES OVER RADIO SINGAPURA (Complaints about poor reception)

Mr S. V. Lingam asked the Minister for Culture and Social Affairs if he is aware of complaints about the poor quality of reception on the wave-length over which Tamil programmes are now broadcast by Radio Singapura; and, whether he will take steps to have this wavelength altered.

Inche Othman Bin Wok: Mr Speaker, Sir, I am aware of the complaints about the poor quality of the reception on the wavelength 1370 k/c over which Tamil programmes are now broadcast. For this reason, I have made provision last year for the purchase of a new transmitter of 20 kilowatts to take the place of the old one of only 10 kilowatts. This new transmitter was installed in January 1967 and the reception of the Tamil programme should have appreciably improved.

With the proposed installation of F.M. (Frequency Modulation) Transmitters in May this year for all language streams, it is expected that reception in all languages would be clear. There is, however, nothing wrong with the present wavelength.