She couldn't quite believe her ears when she was listening to
the radio last Thursday.
During a segment of The Morning Show on Class 95FM, DJ Glenn Ong
had related an encounter he had with a "crazy" woman who caused
chaos in a restaurant..
The listener, a 33-year-old corporate trainer who wanted to be
known only as Sabrina, said Ong went on to say that the Institute
of Mental Health (IMH) should be responsible in making sure "these
people" are not out in public.
His co-host, Vernetta Lopez, responded by saying: "To be fair,
we wouldn't know what measures IMH has in place to safeguard this
from happening."
Sabrina said she was shocked when Ong shot back: "If you have to
put these mad dogs to sleep, then you should."
She felt it was extremely insulting to people with mental
illness and their families.
"A lot of people I know were outraged," Sabrina said in an
e-mail to The New Paper.
When TNP contacted Ong yesterday, he confirmed his experience at
the restaurant.
When asked if he had used the sentence about "putting mad dogs
to sleep" on air, he said: "Roughly."
But he clarified that he was reading an SMS response from a
listener and that he had made clear at the start of the segment
that he was reading views from listeners.
When TNP called Ong back later to clarify some details, he said
that he did not remember making the "mad dogs" reference.
Nonetheless, he makes no apologies earlier for what
happened.
During the first call, he said: "As broadcasters, people should
be open to what we say.
"The Morning Show is a place where there is freedom of
expression, if such expression benefits society.
"It's in your face and very much tongue-in-cheek...If I feel
strongly about a particular issue, I'll say it out."
He said the "mad dogs" comment reflects neither his personal nor
professional opinion.
"I'm sorry if any individual took offence, but public figures
are always open to such abuse."
On mental illness, Ong said: "It's a subjective topic and open
to discussion, yes. But if it (his comment) was truly
controversial, more people would be raising this issue."
He feels that there is a serious issue of many mentally ill
people here who are not being cared for properly.