Poor denied full enjoyment of World Cup

The 2010 edition of the Fifa World Cup, billed “The Greatest Show on Earth”, is currently being enjoyed by hundreds of millions of people all over the world via live television telecast.

However, one segment of the Malaysian population, the poor low-income group, is being deprived of much of the enjoyment and excitement as they cannot afford to subscribe to Astro, and TV1 is only broadcasting a few selected live matches.

It is surely unfortunate and discriminating that those who are poor and cannot afford to subscribe to the paid-TV monopoly are being denied the opportunity to enjoy to the fullest what almost every other person in the world is enjoying now.

TV1 only broadcasts a few selected matches, many of them delayed telecasts or token repeat telecasts of some matches.

Why should there be such a scenario in Malaysia? Why were the poor not taken into consideration when the arrangement for live telecast was being made?

Why is RTM not broadcasting live all the matches? Why should there be a monopoly in such matters? Is there any sinister motive on the part of the federal government or its officials in deciding not to telecast all matches live, to force the people to subscribe to the paid-TV service?

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak talks a lot about 1 Malaysia and his dream of the country becoming one great united nation, but such myopia on the part of his minister responsible for broadcasting is promoting the further marginalisation of the low-income people already on the economic periphery of the nation.

Perhaps, the decision-makers who have all the comfortable and luxury things of high living at their disposal are not aware or are simply indifferent to the plight of the poor and underprivileged.

Why should there be such class distinction, such discrimination, such differences in our beloved nation, in which certain privileged persons get to enjoy to the fullest all the live telecasts of the World Cup, while certain poor and marginalised persons are deprived of such simple pleasure?



comments

Not only the poor are deprived. With the cost of living rising so rapidly, many of us middle income earners with school/college going children could not afford to subscribe to paid tv too. We are also deprived of the excitement unlike years back when private tv channels was given the right to air the world cup. This is so frustrating to many of us.


Even indonesia, the phillipines, fiji and seychelles show it live on free tv... Y cant Msia? Maybe the ones in power need some pocket money... so they charge it higher!!!