Zam: Mawi-Ina show on RTM and Astro a hit

THE Mawi-Ina television special over RTM 1 and Astro on Monday night was a hit and has proven to be an effective collaboration between the two stations, Information Minister Datuk Zainuddin Maidin said. 

He said the programme attracted a large audience from beginning to end. 

While the ratings for the programme, which brought together last year's Akademi Fantasia champion Asmawi Ani, more popularly known as Mawi, and his ex-fiancee Nordiana Naim, has not been officially obtained, Zainuddin said: “Based on outside ratings and my own sentiments, I believe 99.9% of MPs watched last night's programme.  

“I have not received the rating numbers of the show and the bersanding ceremony of Siti Norhaliza and Datuk Khalid Mohd Jiwa, which was aired at the same time over TV3.”  

Zainuddin said he believed that the Mawi-Ina show, aired in the Santai segment, was watched by more people, adding that it was also captivating. 

He was replying to Hashim Jahaya (BN – Kuala Kedah) on the Mawi-Ina programme's ratings beamed over RTM and Astro Ria at 8.45pm on Monday. 

However, Zainuddin stressed that RTM had also inserted clips about the country’s independence heroes during the much-awaited televised meeting between Mawi and Nordiana. 

The programme, he said, was not purely made for entertainment but also to educate Malaysians on the country’s independence. 

“The programme was RTM’s first to be done jointly with a private television station. We encourage more stations to cooperate with the national broadcaster,” he said. 

To a question by Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar (BN – Larut), Zainuddin said RTM had been planning to air a documentary of events taking place in the country every week. 

The Galeri Perdana show might be aired in the time slot during the Sidang Parlimen show when Parliament was not sitting, he added. 

Zainuddin had earlier asked RTM to work out a return of the Peristiwa show, which was last aired in the 1970s.