I WAS waiting for my putu piring at a stall in Queen Street this morning when I heard a talk over a Tamil radio station.

“There has been a child abuse case recently where a man entrusted by a mother took the little girl to a fun fair and fondled her,” said the host.

Sitting alone at the stall, I sipped my teh tarik, all ears, as child abuse cases have always been dear to my heart.

“In many cases, the adult who abuses the child always grooms the victim. This ‘grooming process’ is very common before the adult makes his move,” the person interviewed said at one point.

I waited for the so-called expert being interviewed on the radio to explain about the grooming process, but sadly, no explanation was given.

Even the host did not bother to ask what grooming meant. Perhaps they assumed everyone knew what it was.

“Anneh, are you listening to the radio?” I asked the man at the stall in Tamil.

He nodded.

“Do you know what they are talking about?” I asked, curious.

“They are talking about sex abuse among children,” he replied.

I smiled, glad to note that the radio was not just providing a background sound.

“They mentioned something about ‘grooming’, do you know what it meant?” I asked.

He shrugged.

The expert on the radio then went on and on about the things every parent should not do in order to safeguard their own children from paedophiles while the host responded with a generous amount of ‘oh’, ‘hmm’ and ‘ah’.

The entire conversation went on in Tamil, with a dose of English – I guess the expert was not fluent in Tamil.

Pouring some teh tarik into my steamed rice cake filled with melted palm sugar and freshly grated coconut, I took mouthfuls of putu piring while continuing to listen to the conversation taking place on the radio.

However, what struck me the most was the tone of the entire conversation – it was generally casual and too laid back that it almost came across as being somewhat insensitive especially since the topic being discussed was about child sexual abuse.

I don’t mean to be crude, but honestly, both the host and the expert could have spoken about the price of ikan kembong at the wet market which has increased to RM20 per kilogram this week, using the same conversation tone and it would have come across perfectly fine.

The thing is, media plays a very crucial role in educating the public. And as far as the Indian community is concerned, I believe more listen to radio stations compared to those purchasing newspapers or catching up with TV news. Like my mom, my cousins, my aunties and my Indian neighbours – most Indian women do enjoy listening to Tamil radio stations while preparing for lunch in the kitchen every morning.

So you see, a talk show on radio isn’t merely a talk show. It is a form of educating the public.

Hence, it is critically important for a talk show to deliver a message to its listeners in a proper manner, especially those revolving around vital issues such as sexual abuse.

A talk show host must be able to control how he or she comes across in any given conversation and is responsible to prepare their guest, especially those who are not used to appear on talk shows, to send the message across successfully.

What you say and how you say it matters. Setting the right tone can dramatically shift how a conversation proceeds and assist in providing added emphasis, intent and emotion behind the matters being said.

In other words, it is our tone that communicates what we’re feeling when we say them. And it’s our tone to which others respond.

Sadly, when no emphasis is made on delivering a message properly, the content gets lost even before reaching the listeners. It makes me wonder, why bother discussing about vital issues in the first place, kan? – January 25, 2017.

* Fa Abdul is a passionate storyteller and a resident agitator of the idiots in society. Well-known for her straight-talking sarcasm and occasional foul mouth, she juggles between her work as a writer, producer and director.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.