Vandals Damage RTB Cables Just Before Celebration
By Rosli Abidin Yahya

Bandar Seri Begawan - Television camera cables of Radio Television Brunei used for coverage of the 21st National Day celebration at four locations were severed by a sharp object, believed to be a parang.

The incident resulted in anxious moments as the RTB crew rushed to replace the damaged cables at the last minute early yesterday morning.

The television crew of Rampai Pagi segment of RTB was assigned for the live telecast of the National Day celebration from the Taman Haji Sir OmarAli Saifuddien in the capital.

As they were ready to go on air, the crew found that they needed to find replacement cables as four camera cables that connected the cameras to the Outside Broadcast Unit at the Taman were slashed at four locations, including one at the Persatuan Guru-Guru ,Melayu Brunei (PGGMB) Building and one at the Taman.

RTB had put in place eight cameras in various locations for the live telecast of the National Day celebration which involved 20,000 participants.

The live telecast has Salleh Yusof as its executive producer, Hj Yamin Hj Zainal the producer and Masni Hj Abdullah the assistant producer.

Masni Hj Abdullah, Assistant Producer, told the Borneo Bulletin that the rehearsal for the 21st National Day commenced last Feb 17 using the crew of Outside Broadcast 2 (OB2).

"It was alright from Feb 17 until Tuesday evening but as we were ready for the live telecast this morning we found four cameras had been rendered useless. When the crew checked the facilities, they saw the severed cables," she said.

Fortunately for viewers, replacement cables were found quickly so that the live transmission was not interrupted.

"It was a great job done by the crew who managed to replace the damaged cables in three places just in time for the live transmission. One of the severed cables was able to be reconnected with masking tape," she said.

She added that RTB did not know the identity of the vandals who slashed the cables but believed that it could be someone who has knowledge of camera cables.

RTB telecast live the celebration including the satellite television channel to audiences in Brunei and all over the world.

Apart from local media, journalists and television companies from overseas also covered the colourful event. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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