Tan Sri Ahmad Merican, the Grand Old Man of Broadcasting

Tan Sri Ahmad Merican did extraordinary things in his lifetime, all spurred by his sincere and unequivocal love for the arts, his friends and this great country. Photo: The Star/M. Azhar Arif

“Sekarang, radio ada gambar,” bellowed Tunku Abdul Rahman, and with that mind-boggling claim, Malaysia’s first Prime Minister despatched (Tan Sri) Ahmad Merican, along with a team of producers from Radio Malaya, to the United States, Canada and Britain to learn network planning, TV production and management in 1962.

Bapa Malaysia was certain he had nominated the ideal candidate, seeing as Ahmad was successful in outlining the radio programme content in the week leading up to the country’s independence.