Revisiting old headlines - First Page

Or so many people would think. And that brings us to Astro AWANI’s latest documentary series called ‘First Page’.

This is our attempt to bring forth old stories that were hot on the printing presses and even television screen once upon a time, but not anymore.

Just because a certain event isn’t covered in the media anymore doesn’t mean that the people (and most of the time, victims) involved doesn’t carry on.

So what the show really is all about is revisiting old stories and headlines that use to grace the cover pages of our media and see it from a present day perspective.

Premiering this Monday, 13th May 2013, at 8:30pm on 501 Awani, the first two episodes will see the show looking at one of Malaysia’s most gripping story – The Highland Towers Collapse.

On 11th December 1993, a landslide caused the collapse of the Highland Towers condominium in Taman Hillview, Ulu Klang.

It was a tragedy that the country had not seen before and rescue workers and the authorities rushed and panicked to do what had to be done.

At the end of it all, 48 people lost their lives. The blame game started to happen and litigations and lawsuits became the order of the day.

Today, as the show ‘First Page’ discovers, the dust hasn’t really settled down and things are still on going even after 20 years of the tragedy happening.

“But the most gripping story today is the fact that the people involved still feel the heartbreak of losing loved ones and still coming to terms with the trauma they had endured,” says the show producer, Linawati Adnan.

While producing the episodes, Linawati spoke to many of the former residents of the condominium, authorities and rescue workers, journalists and even the activists who are championing the cause today.

Throughout the season, ‘First Page’ not only looks at past stories of tragedies, but also conflict, politics and even business and finance.

At the end of the day, we at Astro AWANI believe that the media is an organic element of documenting history and important events and happenings should never really be forgotten.

But most importantly, every story is not just a story. It is real events and real happenings that involve real people, and not just a flash of a headline.