Surrey Leader from Surrey, British Columbia, Canada • 8

A8 THE LEADER. SURREY. C. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2. 1990 Dutch man's radio dream comes true Cross Culture by Gobinder Gill A 22-year-old Dutch man emigrated to Canada in 1952, escaping the restrictive life of Holland to follow his lifetime dream of owning a radio station.

And for the past 18 years, CJVB Radio at 1470 on the dial has been pumping ethnic tunes in more than 20 languages, making new Canadians feel at home. Jan Van Bruchem, president of Great Pacific Broadcasting, came to Canada because of the freedom and the opportunity people have in their everyday environment, he says. "In Holland everything is controlled." Van Bruchem, who held a degree in transmitter engineering when he came from Holland, says he was always fascinated by the technical side of the radio business. Soon afterwards he landed a part-time position with a tiny 250-watt radio station in Barrie, Ontario. During Van Bruchem's First Christmas in Canada, the owner of the station was looking for someone to do a Dutch program to thank a group of Dutch mote multiculturalism, a platform had to be established where ethnic newspapers, radios and television programs could be set up in ethnic languages.

Now, after 16 years in Canada, his dream of owning a radio station was beginning to turn into a reality, but convincing the Canadian Radio and Telecommunication Commission was another element, he recalls. First he attempted to apply for a licence for an ethnic radio station in Toronto because it contained more than 250,000 people with ethnic backgrounds, which was required by the CRTC. Someone beat him to it, as well as in Montreal. Then after much consideration, he decided to target Vancouver, but the governing body refused to accept his proposal on the grounds that there wasn't enough of an ethnic population. In those days no statistics were taken on new Canadians.

Since Van Bruchem was determined to get the licence one way or the other, he then decided to compile his own statistics on the ethnic popula tion in Vancouver. "I went to different ethnic restaurants, clubs and took pictures of Sikh Temples," says Van Bruchem as he puts down a pipe with one hand. "I wanted to do more than my homework and I wanted to get the licence." To further his claim, no other station in Vancouver was willing to give him the air time for his Dutch program, but foreign shows were being broadcast from south of the border. Van Bruchem says he also had to convince the CRTC that the station would be self-sufficient in the ethnic market since no financial assistance was available from the government. When he finally got the licence and CJVB went on the air in 1972, the public, as well as other radio stations, felt this concept would fail within years.

The station did experience difficulties for the first two years because of a limited budget and little revenue from advertising funds, but that all changed as time went on. Currently CJVB broadcasts in 20 different languages and plays Canadian tunes. The principal ethnic shows are Chinese, Italian, East Indian and Greek, and they contain news, features, interviews and music a quality standard comparable to any other radio station in the market. Now 70 per cent of the advertising arrives from ethnic sources and only 30 per cent from the mainstream businesses. The station still experiences some difficulties in convincing the mainstream establishments that over half of the people in Vancouver listen to CJVB when the ethnic background is taken into consideration.

This cannot be officially confirmed because no ratings are taken by the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement, which surveys ratings for all radio and television. Van Bruchem is looking for a retirement in the future to spend more time with his family, but the notion of an FM station is also a strong possibility. Gobinder Gill's Cross Culture, a column dealing with multicultural issues, appears every Sunday in The Leader. engineers and farmers for clearing a marsh land and building a complex with the assistance from the federal government. The young Van Bruchem, with little on-air experience, agreed and the show was so well received that the Dutch community asked the owner if the program could continue every Saturday.

After several years other stations which had heard of the Dutch show expressed interest. Eventually, Van Bruchem worked for the International Service which originated from Holland. At the same time, he was attending Ryerson Polytechnical Institute during evenings to get acquainted with Canadian broadcasting. He put together a solid program containing news, profiles, interviews and music that was aired over 124 radio stations nationally in 1968. And that year the federal government appointed a Royal Canadian Commission to examine the Canadian identity.

After much touring of the nation, the report recommended Canadians see themselves as a multicultural nation. And to pro- A description was obtained from witnesses. The suspect is described as a white male, late teens to early 20s, five foot seven to five foot nine, slim build, blond hair oast his shoulders, clean-shaven. He was wearing a light-blue singlet T-shirt, and blue cut-off jeans frayed with holes in the left leg and sneakers. He also wore a navy-blue ski mask with red trim around the eyes and mouth.

The suspect left behind a blue-and-black checked jacket which had white paint stains on the front and back. Anyone with any information on this crime or of the identity of this person is asked to call the TIPS LINE. Crime Stoppers will pay $2,000 cash for information leading to his arrest and charge. Girl's attacker still on loose LENAGHAN GAHAGAN PICKERING CARHOUN sOLIClTORsT Suite 200, 10451-137th Surrey, B.C. J.

Crime Stoppers needs help in identifying the suspect who broke into a Surrey townhouse and sexually assaulted a six-year-old girl. At approximately 2:20 a.m. on July 14, the suspect entered a townhouse located on 140th Street through a kitchen window. Once inside, the suspect moved some furniture and opened the patio door. Investigators believe this was done in order to facilitate an escape route.

The suspect then went upstairs past the mother's bedroom and entered the young girl's room, where he raped her. The victim asked the suspect if she could go to the washroom and when he consented she ran to her mother's room. The suspect then fled the house by the patio door. Surrey Credit Union Appointments Recent reorganization within Surrey Credit Union's branch network has resulted in promotions for several Branch Managers in addition to the appointments of new Branch Managers. Lloyd Craig, Chief Executive Officer, is pleased to announce the following appointments: Small Business Franchising Contact: Michelle Gahagan 583-9411 Dick Veerman Manager GuilJtorJ I Brian iVb L1 I Ui fkJPESTGOtJTnOL I.

1J Rodger Bronson Manager BrookswooJ John McLeod Manager Walnut Grove Dopson Manager Newton "We take the high cost out of pest control" Gov't, licenced Fully insured and bonded We DONATE $1.00 to the SPCA for every flea related job INTRODUCTORY SPECIAL Trior to their current appointments, John McLeoJ and Dick Veerman were in the employ of Surrey Credit Union in the capacity of Loans Manager at Newton Branch and Branch Manager at BrookswooJ Branch, respectively. Brian Dopson and Rodger Bronson each bring to Surrey Credit Union more than 25 yean of experience in the financial services industry. All of our Branch Managers reside locally and are active in their respective communities. They are committed to continuing Surrey Credit Union's tradition of friendly service and welcome the opportunity to acquaint themselves with the members of their new branches. Surrey Credit Union is the second largest credit union in Canada.

With assets in excess of $850 million, Surrey Credit Union brings over 40 years of experience to more than 75,000 members throughout the communities of Surrey, Langley, Fort Langley, White Rock, and North Delta. For houses to 2.000 sq. ft FOR FLEAS up 6 1 CALL DOES IT ALL SURREY LANGLEY 003-C327 V. AAA UJl.