Broadcasters like Wong are in the vanguard of Asia's radio revolution. Much of the region is still too technologically backward or remote to rely on the Internet or on text messaging to gather information, form virtual communities, exchange and spread ideas, or just vent. Instead, it's radioparticularly talk radiothat is proving the channel of choice, not least because all you need is a simple transistor radio and a phone. A new generation of outspoken radio-show hosts are not only airing their own contrarian views but are allowing we, the people, to speak out. Asia's talk-radio programs are giving societies reared on authoritarian regimes and schooled more in discipline than dissent a chance to participate in political and social dialogue with newfound confidence. After all, most of Asia's traditional media continue to focus on the ruling lite's message, excluding controversial or minority voices. But talk radio is a microphone through which even the smallest voice can be magnified. For Asia's citizens, muzzled for so long, radio's lure is not only the freedom to talkbut to talk back.
Last week's march in Hong Kong, galvanized in part by Wong Yuk-man's radio entreaties, never had the pretension of actually overthrowing a ruling government. In many ways, the protest was a ritualistic expression of futility, participants wearing black shirts that symbolized the funerary nature of their march. But somewhere along the way, the expected 100,000 protesters snowballed to at least five times that. Suddenly, the protest grew a vitality of its own that sparked a deep democratic longing that most Hong Kongers didn't even realize they held. Wong, the territory's Great Communicator, may have started the dialogue. But this was little Hong Kong speaking out loudly on its very own. The territory's experience last week is a reminder that, more than any print publication or Web chat room, talk-radio hosts throughout Asia are building cohesive, virtual communities that can actually make a difference.
Turn the radio dial a bit, and political discourse gives way to rants on straying husbands or disobedient teenagers. Social issues may not have the gravitas of incipient revolution, but talk radio addresses far more than a political need. Traditional Asian culture is chock-full of taboo subjects: sex, religion, sex, suicide and sex. Talk radio allows the shy and curious alike to discuss issues they would never dare broach even with their closest friends. Ye Sha hosts a late-night radio show in Shanghai, a city where the neon present collides with Confucian tradition. These days, many of her calls are from wives and mistresses on either side of the extramarital divide. With fewer neighborhood spies to keep track of a person's movements, such illicit relationships are burgeoning, but there's little chance to discuss these forbidden affairs except on programs like Ye's "Accompanying You 'Til Dawn." Other calls that Ye fields have brought tales of incest, spousal abuse and date rape. "My program provides a relatively private space for people to tell their stories," says the 34-year-old Ye, who prides herself on useful advice instead of simple platitudes. "Newspapers don't have so much space for ordinary people's lives."
Other shows do more than just dispense advice. In Bangkok, a 24-hour radio program called "Uniting to Help Each Other" pulls in 800,000 listeners during peak hours by serving as a proxy people's advocate. An errant spouse? The radio station will dispatch a therapist to provide counseling at the couple's home. A sick puppy? Callers will flood the line with recommendations on the best veterinarian. And that's only the beginning. The station helps callers find wallets left in the back of taxis and notifies the fire station when there's a blaze in the neighborhood. It also badgers hospitals to admit patients who don't have adequate funds and harasses lawmakers to change legislation. "In Thailand we have ministries for social services and welfare, but they do not work well," says program manager Yanyong Sangpow. "The people need us to get things done, to cut through the red tape."
Thailand's other hit radio program doesn't do much to help its listeners at all. Instead, shock jock Veera Theerapat spends most of his on-air time ridiculing callers foolish enough to try to parry with Thailand's Howard Stern. At first, Bangkok denizens took offense at Veera's brassy attitude; this is, after all, a country where reserve and politeness are practically national characteristics. Newspapers chided Veera for bringing the worst of the West to the East. But Veera's direct approach soon caught on. "He always says just what he thinks," says engineer Chartchai Kaewsung, who tunes into Veera when he is driving in Bangkok's endlessly snarled traffic. "He is not scared to criticize anyone, even when it comes to the government." Indeed, at a time of economic duress and social uncertainty, Veera refuses to dispense messages of false hope or make promises he can't keep. The audience has responded to his ruthlessly practical, no-nonsense approach. "When I first started this program in 1998, people thought I was aggressive and rude," recalls the former business journalist whose bookish appearance belies his swaggering on-air demeanor. "But within a few months, people were ringing to tell me that now they think I am brave and sincere."