What’s the difference between 1946, 1962 and 1982 when it comes to radio propaganda? There are interesting parallels, in fact, between the Indonesian struggle for independence from Dutch colonial rule, the international dispute about sovereignty over New Guinea in 1962 and the Falklands-Malvinas conflict in 1982, the year in which this programme was first broadcast. Pim Reijntjes (1919-2014), station manager at the official Dutch radio service in present-day Jakarta in the mid-40’s, explains some ways round the station’s “dreary” Sunday programming and the secret of the time signal pips. They sounded official but had little to do with time keeping. Sietze van der Werf explains the Dutch position on New Guinea.
Producer: Jonathan Marks
Broadcast: January 15, 1982