Roger Kiew, who goes by his celebrity moniker Roger Kool was a

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

an DJ who was well-known uniquely for being the first local blind celebrity. He was also remembered for his signature bells ringing sounds and the catchy ''Here's Roger Kool!'' at the start of his radio shows in the 1980s. Born to a poor family in 1954, Kiew became blind due to eye cancer when he was five years old. He first joined the cable radio station

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and as a result of his unique presentations he grew to become a popular DJ in the 1970s and 1980s, especially with the

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...

-sponsored radio show ''Saturday Spin'' that he hosted from 1984 to 1986. Despite having millions of fans across Singapore through his syndicate radio shows (one of which was his famous "Dial-A-Joke" programme), it did not stop there; the numbers grew with his start of sponsored radio shows for

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, Swensen's,

Isetan ( unlisted on March 26, 2008, ) is a Japanese department store. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Isetan has branches throughout Japan and South East Asia, including in Jinan, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Shanghai, Singapore and Tianjin, and formerly in Ba ...

, Sembawang Music Centre, Stamford Tires, as well as numerous college, polytechnic, and club appearances. Having met monumental stars such as Cliff Richard, Helen Reddy, Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Toni Braxton, and many more, he gained respect from critics everywhere despite his physical disabilities. He moved to Sri Lanka for a year, accepting a job there, and then continued on to work at NTUC Radio Heart 91.3 during the 1990s. In 1998 he then started his own CD series, "Better English with Roger Kool", which has helped aid children in primary schools throughout Singapore learn how to speak better English. With that came a Multiplication CD, a CD aimed towards aiding kids to memorize their multiplication tables with catchy songs. In July 1999, Roger and his wife Lynette held lunchtime roadshows twice a week at the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...

Temasek Polytechnic Temasek Polytechnic (TP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore. Established in 1990, it is the only polytechnic in Singapore offering a law programme. History ...

and the

Singapore Polytechnic Singapore Polytechnic (SP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore. Established in 1954, the institution is the first and oldest polytechnic in Singapore and is ...

for the entire month. Kool died of

bone cancer A bone tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue in bone, traditionally classified as noncancerous (benign) or cancerous (malignant). Cancerous bone tumors usually originate from a cancer in another part of the body such as from lung, breast, thyro ...

on 31 October 2005 in Vancouver, Canada leaving behind his wife, Lynette Loon, and two sons, Jay and Neil.

References

1954 births 2005 deaths Deaths from bone cancer Singaporean people of Chinese descent Singaporean DJs Deaths from cancer in British Columbia Blind people from Singapore {{Singapore-bio-stub