Rediffusion And Big Fool Lee

Posted by vickoo under Lifestyle
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Lee Dai Soh telling a Cantonese story at Rediffusion in 1960. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

My earlier post on the legendary storyteller Lee Dai Soh 李大傻 (literally “Big Fool Lee”) attracted a comment from a reader named Jon. Among other things, he asked, “Could you kindly tell whether his recordings are available on CDs anywhere? I’m very keen to get hold of them, if available.”

Recently, Mr Roger Sim, Business Development Manager of Rediffusion responded to the comment by saying “Rediffusion is selling Lee Dai Soh 6-CD box sets”.

I got in touch with Roger via his email address roger@rediffusion.com.sg and collected 2 sets of the CDs personally from Rediffusion’s office today.

The CDs, titled 蛇鬼山斗蛊記 and costing S$18 per set self-collect, came in very attractive packaging.

Rediffusion’s office is no longer located in Clemenceau Avenue as shown below in a 1950 photo， courtesy of the National Archives.

Their office was in Clemenceau Avenue up to the late 1980s or early 1990s, I think. Now it is at Morningstar Centre, 12 New Industrial Road:

I met up with a very friendly Roger and we had an hour-long chat (off the air) about the good old days of Rediffusion as well as Roger’s plans in moving his business forward.

Roger showed me what Rediffusion is offering now.

It is called Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) service. The above DAB receiver set is provided free-of-charge with a minimum 15-month (1 year + 3 months free) subscription at S$192.60. The set produces crisp, clear and interference-free digital sound which is even more evident when played via an audiophile valve amplifier:

In terms of aesthetics, the receiver set is definitely far better-looking and more compact than the toaster-like boxes of the 1950-60s:

You can have access to 19 “unique informative, music and entertainment content” for as little as 43 cents a day.

Some of the stations provide 24-hour non-stop commercial-free music, ranging from classical, jazz to hip-hop. Of course, the traditional Chinese dialect stations “Gold” (now called “RediGold”) and “Silver” (now “RediSilver 25″) are included in the package. Personally, I think it is very good value for your money.