MIRI: Era FM will issue an apology to Premier League champion Sarawak next week over the ‘cap ayam’ and degrading comments by their morning show deejays Johan, Ray and Hanif (Johara).
Astro Radio Sdn Bhd (Astro Radio) chief executive officer Dr Jake Abdullah said he had called them over the incidents yesterday and warned them to refrain from making negative comments on any football team in the country.
“Next week, you will hear an apology,” he told reporters after the official launching of Era FM, hitz FM and MY fm expansion to Miri City yesterday.
Dr Jake admitted that he was really upset after learning about the incident that angered Sarawak fans, resulting in many listeners expressing their displeasure and even with death threats to Johara.
“People who are not passionate about football will not understand,” he said adding that Era FM had always been supportive of the Sarawak Football Association (FAS) since 2010.
The negative remark was uttered when Sarawak lost 1-2 to Perak in the Malaysia Cup competition recently in an away game when the deejay allegedly commented that Sarawak had won the Premier League champion undefeated this season because the teams playing in that league were all “cap ayam team”, meaning that all the teams playing lacked quality.
It allegedly described Sarawak as a team that was not fit to play in the Malaysia Cup and could only play at the Premier League level only.
The comment had angered local fans and even politicians here with many expressing their frustration in the Facebook and Twitters urging to boycott the Astro programme as well as making death threats to Johan and Ray if they were to step foot in Sarawak.
A check by Bernama found many blogs had initiated a campaign to boycott Era FM as a show of protest if the deejays refused to apologise over the radio.
Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Youth vice-head Pandi Suhaili said deejays as well-known public personalities should know their etiquette when they were on air.
“PBB Youth demands a public apology, if they are joking then they have crossed the line, there must be a limit, they should understand the sensitivities of the local communities,” he told Bernama.
On another development, Dr Jake said the expansion was part of the long-term plan of Astro Radio to strengthen its position in the broadcasting industry in the country.
“Our vision is to have our own East Malaysia operation running independently, hopefully it can materialise in the next 24 to 36 months,” he said.
He said at the moment some of the programme aired were from Peninsula and once it able to operate independently listeners in Sarawak and Sabah can tune in to their own local contents 24 hours.
Presently, more than 500,000 listeners are estimated to tune in on Era FM, hitz fm and My FM in Sarawak and Sabah. — Bernama
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