Dulu Lain Sekarang Lain
Back in late 90s when Astro had just started its operation, my father subscribed to it. I could still remember that it was considered a luxury thingy back then due to its installation fee which was about 1K++. I couldn't recall the monthly fee however. I knew at that time not so many people had installed Astro and we were amongst the first few subscribers. The image of the digitalized screen was quite clear and at times you could see some alien boxes on the tv screen. Seriously. I guessed technology was still a trial and error on the cable at that time.
The channels were not so many like today. The local channels (free ones) were not even on the list yet. There was only one Malay channel, Ria and the movie channels available were only HBO and Star Movies. There were also one Chinese channel, a Tamil channel and of course there were MTV and Channel V around.
The best part about Astro during those times was the attraction that it offered to its limited viewers. There were many contests around, practically every channel had their own special contests for the viewers.
I remembered clearly once I entered Channel V contest and I won second prize. My name even appeared in the monthly magazine (it was given free for all subscribers back then) as one of the winners. Oh my! I was truly excited because I was not always lucky in contests. I won Channel V merchandises like notepad, t-shirt, mug and stickers. Not bad, huh...
Then, my brothers and I entered Roda Impian (it was first started on Ria) contest and we won again. We had Roda Impian t-shirts and mugs. The Ria Channel often showed P.Ramlee's movies and again, we entered the contest. Needless to say, we won mugs, t-shirts and more mugs. For your information, all the gifts were delivered personally to our door. I could still remember seeing a van with the logo on it stopping in front of the house and two men in uniforms and caps taking out a few boxes from the van. We got excited because we knew that those boxes contained our gifts. Well, I guessed we were allowed to behave like children at that time because all of us were still too young, hihihihi.....
How did we manage to win all those contests easily? Well, the reason was obvious. There were not so many subscribers around and they had no choice but to select us as the winners because most probably we were the only human beings entering the contests....hihihihihi....jakun betul kan?
Another thing that I could remember was the number of people come flocking into the house in order to enjoy the digital channels. They were my cousins, neighbours, friends, aunties, uncles and the house was always full of people which obviously made my mother happy. She would start cooking various kinds of food and I knew she enjoyed it so much. Frankly speaking, I enjoyed those times very much too because I loved the company of people around me and getting to know them better was a good thing really.
Well, now, today, 'stesen tv berbayar itu' has many interesting channels and they come with different packages to choose from and of course with different types of fees for each. Installation is cheaper and selection of channels is easier. All you have to do is pick up the phone and start dialling the customer service.
When my father first made the subscription, the dish came with free gifts which still last until today, and when problems occurred, the technician would come running to our house in a jiffy. Hmmmm, I wonder if such thing still applies now? Would they entertain their customers the same way as when they first started? Are they still treating you as if you are their most precious customer? I'm not so sure because I'm not a subscriber like my father.....
The channels were not so many like today. The local channels (free ones) were not even on the list yet. There was only one Malay channel, Ria and the movie channels available were only HBO and Star Movies. There were also one Chinese channel, a Tamil channel and of course there were MTV and Channel V around.
The best part about Astro during those times was the attraction that it offered to its limited viewers. There were many contests around, practically every channel had their own special contests for the viewers.
I remembered clearly once I entered Channel V contest and I won second prize. My name even appeared in the monthly magazine (it was given free for all subscribers back then) as one of the winners. Oh my! I was truly excited because I was not always lucky in contests. I won Channel V merchandises like notepad, t-shirt, mug and stickers. Not bad, huh...
Then, my brothers and I entered Roda Impian (it was first started on Ria) contest and we won again. We had Roda Impian t-shirts and mugs. The Ria Channel often showed P.Ramlee's movies and again, we entered the contest. Needless to say, we won mugs, t-shirts and more mugs. For your information, all the gifts were delivered personally to our door. I could still remember seeing a van with the logo on it stopping in front of the house and two men in uniforms and caps taking out a few boxes from the van. We got excited because we knew that those boxes contained our gifts. Well, I guessed we were allowed to behave like children at that time because all of us were still too young, hihihihi.....
How did we manage to win all those contests easily? Well, the reason was obvious. There were not so many subscribers around and they had no choice but to select us as the winners because most probably we were the only human beings entering the contests....hihihihihi....jakun betul kan?
Another thing that I could remember was the number of people come flocking into the house in order to enjoy the digital channels. They were my cousins, neighbours, friends, aunties, uncles and the house was always full of people which obviously made my mother happy. She would start cooking various kinds of food and I knew she enjoyed it so much. Frankly speaking, I enjoyed those times very much too because I loved the company of people around me and getting to know them better was a good thing really.
Well, now, today, 'stesen tv berbayar itu' has many interesting channels and they come with different packages to choose from and of course with different types of fees for each. Installation is cheaper and selection of channels is easier. All you have to do is pick up the phone and start dialling the customer service.
When my father first made the subscription, the dish came with free gifts which still last until today, and when problems occurred, the technician would come running to our house in a jiffy. Hmmmm, I wonder if such thing still applies now? Would they entertain their customers the same way as when they first started? Are they still treating you as if you are their most precious customer? I'm not so sure because I'm not a subscriber like my father.....
Comments