April saw the dawning of a new age for Moseley. Not only did it see the beginning of the new financial year but also the start of Mosley’s much heralded “Year Zero”.
The thorny issue of sponsorship has dogged the Moseley Society since it’s inception. The need for greater funds and a more vibrant image has forced members to look high and low for a sponsor that represents the culture and diversity that characterises Moseley. The search has not been easy.
A member of the society told us yesterday “We were originally approached by some sort of letting agency who agreed to have some signs made for us. I’ve got to admit I was never happy about it really. I ask you what are we trying to show here, that Moseley’s somewhere you can rent a house? You can do that anywhere. We needed to find a sponsor that makes us stand out from the more dull areas of Birmingham.”
“It was sometime in March it came to me. Me and the wife were watching The Killing Fields and I thought, hang on a minute that’s it. Just like Moseley in the late eighties the Khmer Rouge had a bit of an image problem. And just as Moseley rebuilt it’s high street so too did the Khmer Rouge. Obviously I’m not saying the Khmer Rouge built shopping centres, that would go against everything they stood for, but they did rebuild their image.”
Initial contacts with the Khmer Rouge proved to be successful and mutually beneficial relationship was forged. Though it must be said this agreement has not been without it’s critics. A member of the Moseley Society, who fears to be named in case they are accused of being counter revolutionary, told us “It’s sick, they’re a bunch of murdering scum, it won’t end in signs you know. Oh no.”
Our original source told us “Of course the liberal do-gooders don’t like the idea but they can’t see the bigger picture. The signs let people know where they are and the extra cash is going to come in handy for the war with Vietnam.”
Before we left the interview we were chillingly told “Er I’d take those glasses off before you go. You don’t want to get confused with one of those intellectuals, do you?”