My Dream Job

I have often wondered what would have happened if I had fulfilled my desire to be a radio deejay, way back in the 80s when I arrived in Camrose to do my college studies. I recall on the first day of orientation I submitted a request to join the campus station, much to the increduility of the volunteer failitator! It wasn't her fault that she had this stereotypical view that a Chinese needed English lessons and not be speaking English so much, moreover, publicly!

Months passed by and I kept making inquiries about radio work but was told there were no available spots at that time. It was disappointment after disappointment and there I was, with my many music casettes (In those days, who had heard of cds?)! These casettes omprised of English hits albeit mostly oldies with some commtemporarily hits. It was a dream to share songs and tell the significance of each of them in a bygone early post-British colonial era ... somewhat a nostalgia trip down memory lane. It would have been marvelous fun using a wide range of my vocal capabilities, trained in years of school, church carolling and choir practices, from being a tenor to a bass vocalist, and yes, I would love to ape the speaking style of my "mentor", the one and only controversial Malaysian radio dj, Patrick Teoh (Have a look in Youtube). Yeah, done probably in a little more courteous and less obnoxious way, of course! Besides, a year in demanding talented Professor Robert Moore's nerve-wrecking Drama 260 with the best of the best of Albertan dramatists broadened my thinking and improved my speaking skills, from enounciation to pronounciation!

Well, it didn't happen. I never sat in the coveted deejay seat and go live on air ... but I did sit in the chair on the first day of orientation! I did get a near shot at the dream job once--on a really cold freezing winter 11 pm night ... when I got a call from one of the station fellas, asking, "Hey, we have a spot for you tonight--the deejay can't make it--wanna come and join us?" "No,Thank you," I quickly politely replied. I was warmly tucked in bed and hell, it was somewhat minus 40 degrees with that dreaded wind blowing strongly outside. "No way, that station is out there, about three soccer fields away!" I reasoned. Not long after this, I was gone from this college and at university many kilometers away in the capital city, Edmonton.

Oh well, perhaps someday, Malayia will be more liberal and permit private radio stations to open and operate freely... then our talents will be recognised!