Batam, Kepri - The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission in Riau Islands province has criticized a number of radio stations in Batam for selling airtime to religious groups from Singapore, allowing them to broadcast religious programs in foreign languages.
The commission‘s provincial chairman, Hendriyanto, told The Jakarta Post that out of 14 private radio stations in Batam, five have sold airtime to religious institutions from Singapore.
The airtime is being used to broadcast religious programs in foreign languages like English, Mandarin and Tagalog from the Philippines.
An hour-long slot costs between S$60 and 100 per hour, with each of the radio stations involved broadcasting such programs for at least three hours per day.
"There are religious programs from the Confucian, Christian and other religions, and they are aired in English or Mandarin," Hendriyanto said.
He said the programs targeted Singapore listeners as the city state does not allow radio programs with religious content.
The 2002 Broadcasting Law allows the use of foreign languages during a maximum of 30 percent of a radio station‘s total broadcasting hours.
However, programs are not allowed to be supplied completely by third parties without involving the radio station in preparing the content.
"Selling the air time to foreign groups undermines our dignity. It‘s like selling our province to them. Airtime is part of the public domain so don‘t abuse radio frequencies for unregulated purposes.
"Religious program are good but there are regulations on this," Hendriyanto said.
He urged the central government to revise the Broadcasting Law, especially those parts permitting programs to be broadcast in foreign languages.
He said radio stations located in border areas should not be allowed to broadcast foreign programs so as to prevent them being used as "propaganda tools" by neighboring countries.
"The Broadcasting Law should obligate radio stations located in border areas to only use the Indonesian language. No foreign languages.
"The airtime is being sold by radio stations in Batam as they see a business opportunity," Hendriyanto said.
Meanwhile, operations manager of Batam-based radio station Sing FM, Bambang Pamungkas, said his station was once approached by a Christian group from Singapore to broadcast religious programs in Mandarin and Tagalog for S$6,000 a month.
"But we turned down the offer. As a Christian myself, I felt the programs were not right for Batam residents. I don‘t understand the language and most Batam residents are the same.
"Besides, ethically, it‘s not good for the radio station‘s image as it might make people think that it has become a religious broadcaster," Bambang said.
He acknowledged that the selling of slots for religious programs from Singapore had been going on since 2000.
He said the programs targeted listeners in Singapore as those buying airtime also included advertisers from Singapore.
"These programs are purely directed at Singapore listeners because of the language used in the programs and in the ads. The government must do something about this," Bambang said.
Source: www.thejakartapost.com (2 Oktober 2007)
