A memorable Transistor Radio

The fine music from Concert FM is in the background while I am writing this post. This red portable Panasonic transistor radio has been with us, the Chen family, since 1982. It is very old to a radio and yet it is still working nicely.

It is very memorable to me because it has witnessed quite a few important events in the Chen family since the day it was 'adopted' by my father in 1982.

In an early morning walk in the summer, my father and mother heard some sound from the roadside where they were passing by on the way home. Tracing where was the sound from, they found this lovely red radio lying on the roadside like a crying baby. My father picked it up, tenderly dusted off the dirts and then 'adopted' it.

It brought news, music and other entertainments to my father and mother while they sewed umbrellas for the factory as a passing time job. The sound quality was perfect. It loyally accompanied dad and mum when we were away at works.

In September 1982, not long after it was 'adopted', my daughter was born. This was the first baby that Chen family had longed for since Jean and I married 5 years earlier. My father sometimes used his 'adopted' radio to entertain his beloved grand daughter by turning to the right volum and placing it by Tessie's pillow to accompany her through a sound nap.

In October 1987, this radio witnessed the most joyful event of this old couple, the birth of our son Chenny. This boy baby of Chen family was one of the wishes they had been prayed for since our marriage 10 years earlier. Having a boy born to the family is a very important thing according to Chinese tradition. Mum and dad ever commented that this 'adopted' radio did bring the family luckiness.

In September 1988, dad was sent to hospital due to a serious stroke. The attendant whom I employed to look after my father during the wrok days in the hospital complained that it was boring in the ward. I thought of this radio and lent it to him. Thus, he got some form of entertainment and my father could see his 'adopted' radio sitting on his bedside. During the weekend, it was my turn to look after father at the hospital, and I could experience the importance of this radio to both the patient and the attendant.

Father died of some complications after 5 month hospitalization. In February 1989, his doctor discharged him from hospital so that he could pass away in his own home. This is a tradition held by my parent's generation. So this radio followed father to our home and was kept silent for some time after father's death.

It must be such a memorable item that when we were packing up for immigration to New Zealand, we put it carefully in the seafreight parcels. And here this lovely radio has been with us in New Zealand.

In the last 3 years, I have been working from home as Programme Advisor for an organization called Kiwi Ora. Working from home can make one feel quite isolated, so I unconciously found this radio from the cabinet and set it up. Ah! it is still sounding perfect, and it has accompanied me through the days working as a Kiwi Ora PA.

Recently, my son showed off his high tech i-pod to me in my home office. Without hesitation, I pulled him to the desk side where this radio sit and told him the history of this red machine. He remained silence for quite a while, looked as if he had relized the value of time and caring.