Listen, I've done some serious research in life. PhD level research.
My finding is this - everybody leaves.
Your best friend leaves because he got a call from the other side. Your neighbor leaves because he won Toto. The kids that you thought leave because they got married and suddenly you are not cool enough to hang around with. Even your hair leaves. Quietly. Without even saying goodbye.
But you know who never leaves? That square box in the corner of my kitchen. The radio. 20 years it sat there. No MC, no increment, no annual dinner, no complaint. More loyal than most politicians, and definitely cheaper to maintain than your ‘EX’.
I am writing this on a rainy day in Lunas, on my third cup of coffee - sorry, "espresso" if you want to be atas - reading the news where everything is either someone fighting or someone getting scammed, and my anxiety is doing Zumba inside my chest. You know what saves me? Not meditation app. Not yoga. My radio. It is always switch on.
For free, that thing gives me peace. Freedom. Happiness. 24 hours a day. Try asking Astro to do that without sending you a bill that looks like a phone number.
My old radio was not just a radio. It was a family member with an IC. It was my co-teacher. During tuition class, all the students’ half dead, eyes rolling back, me also half dead trying to explain Sejarah. That radio humming in the background created what you call "ambience". More importantly, it stopped everyone from snoring. The parents thought I was a very cool, modern teacher. Actually, I was just using free background music to keep kids awake.
Then tragedy struck. One of my ex-student, now college graduate and who plans to get married when she reaches 60, now very modern, came to visit. She looked at my radio like she saw a dinosaur laying an egg.
She said, "Uncle! Wow! This radio still functioning ah? Haven't exploded yet?"
Aiyo. That girl. She said it so innocently, but my radio heard it. These radios have ego, you know. Like old uncles. You cannot insult them.
The next day onwards, it started doing revenge drama. Channels disappearing. I'm listening to Engelbart Humperdinck, suddenly - "Sawadee krap!" - Thai station takes over. Some days only "shhhhhhhhhhhh" like it is scolding me. Some days two stations fighting at the same time, like my ex. I knew the message. "Time for me to go to radio heaven, boss."
So I had to go radio shopping. Now shopping for radio in 2026 is an adventure. Everything looks like a UFO. Small black thing with blue light. Looks like it can call aliens but cannot play old Tamil songs properly.
I didn't want a spaceship. I wanted a radio that looks like a radio. The type our grandfather had, where the whole family sat around it like it was a campfire. Wooden body, big knob, looks like it has lived through World War 2.
I found one in Shoppe. Outside, it looks like 1958. Inside, it has Bluetooth, USB, SD card, probably can also make roti if you press hard enough. The wood casing gives you that warm nostalgic feeling. You touch it and you feel like you are back in your kampong house, waiting for Radio Malaya to play.
And I won't lie to you - when I placed the new radio exactly on the same spot where the old fellow sat for 20 years, I became emotional. One student caught me patting the radio and saying "welcome home." She suggested I should seriously consider a check-up.
But two songs later? All emotions gone. I was back to normal. That is the power of music. Two songs and you forget you were about to cry. Try doing that with your therapist.
Look, I know what you youngsters think. "Aiyo uncle, radio? Who listens to radio? Got Spotify what." Yes, correct. Spotify will recommend you 30 sad songs when you are already depressed and push you further into the longkang. My radio DJ says, "Don't worry brother, life is like that one, come, listen to Boney M."
That is why old timers like me still cling to radio like a kid who clings to his mother's sarong. It makes the house not empty. Without it, the house is so quiet you start talking to the lizard on the wall. With it, you have company. Free company that doesn't ask you "have you eaten?"
We radio people are also very weirdly loyal. We listen to ONE station only most of the time. Even if they play a song that sounds like a cat being strangled, we won't change. We will suffer. We will wait. Like waiting for your turn at LHDN.
Because when that DJ talks - a real human voice, live, with real cough and real laugh - you feel connected. That is real life. That is connection. That is why I don't talk to my walls anymore. Now I talk to the radio, which is only slightly less crazy.
And when that ONE song comes on... ayyoooo. Your legs stop. Your hand holding the spatula stops. Your brain takes a Concorde flight back to 1985. You remember where you were, who that special one you were holding hands with, what bell-bottom you were wearing. Some songs do nothing. Some songs bring one full lorry of memories and dump it in front of you.
For me, mornings my English station starts with interviewing the man on the street. All the uncles giving solutions to world economy while buying fish. Then they play medium beats till lunch - suddenly "Play That Funky Music" comes on and I am dancing in the kitchen while frying rice. Evening driving, they keep saying "traffic jam at BKE, PIE, NKVE." As if I don't know. I'm IN the jam lah. But I don't care, because the song is good.
Night time, they go slow. Kenny G and his saxophone, making you feel like you are in a 5-star hotel, but actually you are just on your office chair sipping the double shot of straight Chivas Regal.
An hour before midnight? I transform. I switch to a Tamil station. Full oldies, MGR, Sivaji, SPB. Then I become 20 years old again. Neighbors might think I might be running a funeral!
Then I go to sleep, happy. So if you are sad, depressed, broke, heartbroken, or your football team lost again - don't do anything stupid. Just switch on a radio. It's cheaper than beer, healthier than smoking, and unlike people, it will never say "seen" and not reply.
ENDS
BY
Sam Trailerman
Nganasegaran (tapessam@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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