Beyond the Ballot Box

Early in May, Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming announced the 26-year-old housing woes of five estates in Hulu Selangor and Kuala Selangor have been resolved. 245 workers from Ladang Mary, Ldg Sg Tinggi, Minyak, Nigel Gardner, and Ladang Bukit Tagar will receive subsidised affordable landed housing.But why did these workers have to struggle for 26 years for something that should be a fundamental human right – adequate housing? What can we learn from it?We speak to S. Arutchelvan, Deputy Chairperson of Parti Sosialis Malaysia.Image Credit: ShutterstockSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group of Malaysia on Integrity, Governance, and Anti-Corruption (APPGM-IGAR) is once again calling on the government to enhance transparency and accountability in Malaysia’s democratic reforms. What are the specific reforms that we need? Joining me on the show to discuss this is Dr Tricia Yeoh, CEO of IDEAS – The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs. Dr Tricia is also a representative of the APPGM-IGAR. Image Credit: ShutterstockSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pakatan Harapan retained its Kuala Kubu Bharu state seat at the by-elections which took place over the weekend. Before the elections, many pundits predicted that this would likely be an incredibly tough battle in which either side would win by the slimmest of majorities. Interestingly, Pakatan Harapan’s Pang Sock Tao from the DAP increased their vote share and won relatively comfortably with 57% of the popular vote, while PN’s Khairul Azhari Saut garnered 41% of the vote.So, what does the KKB by-election result tell us?Image Credit: DAP WebsiteSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last Sunday, the Zionist state of Israel voted to shut down Al Jazeera in the country, immediately ordering the closure of its offices and a ban on the company's broadcasts. Over in the United States of America, peaceful university encampments and protests have been taking place all over the country. The state, the supposed land of the free, has responded to these protests by unleashing armed police officers in riot gear. So, where does that leave us today?Image Credit: ShutterstockSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2020, Malaysia became an ageing society – in other words, people are living longer and having less babies. On a separate but related note, women’s participation in the workforce has plateaued at 55%, with most citing “household and care responsibilities” as the primary reason. These are big-picture problems that would require comprehensive policy intervention centred around something called the Care Economy. But what exactly is the Care Economy? And what can Malaysia learn from other countries with more mature and robust care economies, such as Australia?Image Credit: Shutterstock (Ai generated image)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malaysia dropped 34 places in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom rankings placing us at 107 out of 180 countries listed. For the first time in three years, Malaysia does not top the rankings for ASEAN countries as Thailand attained 87th place.Nalini Elumalai of Article 19 (Malaysia) joins us to discuss this sharp decline in rankings.Image Credit: ShutterstockSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

South Africans celebrate “Freedom Day” every April 27, commemorating the country’s first democratic election in 1994. It also marked the official end of racial segregation and apartheid in South Africa. Apartheid and racial segregation meant that there was a huge inequality and inequity gap between the ethnic groups in South Africa, namely the minority white population and the poorer majority black population. To tackle this, South Africa implemented an affirmative action policy which bears some resemblance to Malaysia’s New Economic Policy. So, decades on, what has been the result of the affirmative action policy in Malaysia and South Africa?Dr Lee Hwok-Aun, who’s a Senior Fellow of the Malaysian Studies Programme at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, has spent many years studying the ethnic majority-favouring affirmative action policy in South Africa and Malaysia. He joins us on the show today to share his insights.Image Credit: ShutterstockSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Kuala Kubu Bharu by-elections will be held on the 11th of May. This comes at the heels of the unfortunate passing of KKB incumbent ADUN, Lee Kee Hiong from the DAP.The by-election will see a four-cornered fight between Pang Sock Tao from Pakatan Harapan, Khairul Azhari Saut from Perikatan Nasional, Hafizah Zainuddin from Parti Rakyat Malaysia and Nyau Ke Xin running as an independent.So, how closely contested will this election be? What can the voting trends of the past decade tell us? We speak to Danesh Prakash Chako of Tindak Malaysia.Image Credit: ShutterstockSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Right-wing parties are gaining traction and strength all over Europe. Germany is no different, where a far-right party called Alternative for Germany (AfD) is becoming increasingly popular and is said to command around 20% of the popular support. So, why is this happening?We speak to Dr Frederik Holst, an academic from Germany and an Associate Professor at Albukhary International University (AIU). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the 1st of April, there was a deadly strike by Israel on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria. Iranian military commander, Major General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, was killed in the attack, along with six other Iranian nationals, including another general, and at least six Syrian citizens. In retaliation, on April 13, Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel in what they called ‘Operation True Promise’. But what lies at the heart of this conflict and how will it impact the Middle East?We speak to Dr. Assal Rad, a scholar of Middle Eastern history. She works on research related to US foreign policy issues, the Middle East, and contemporary Iran. She’s also the author of ‘The State of Resistance: Politics, Culture, and Identity in Modern Iran’. Image Credit: Shutterstock (Ai-Generated Image)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When discussing Malaysian politics, there is a tendency by many to look at “The Malays” as a singular block. On the one hand, there is a penchant for some to blame “The Malays” for our nation’s 99 problems. On the other hand, Malay political elites tend to propagate a narrative in which “The Malays” were “united” across racial lines once upon a time and so, there is a need to reunite the Malays once more. But are the Malays a monolith? Have they ever been?Producer's note: A couple of factual errors were made in the conversation -Concerning May 13, MCA was cited when it should've been Gerakan.The Memali incident took place in the 80s, not 50s.Image Credit: ShutterstockSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In what appears to be a massive blow to the rights of Malaysian workers, The Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that Malaysia's Industrial Court cannot hear the case of L. Subramaniam, a former security guard allegedly unfairly sacked by the US Embassy without reason. Previously, the Malaysian Industrial Court ordered the US Embassy to pay L. Subramaniam RM 66 000. The US Embassy then turned to the Malaysian civil court to quash the ruling. The US Embassy claims that it has absolute immunity. So, what does this mean for Malaysians working in foreign embassies?Image Credit: Parti Sosialis MalaysiaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) has released its 2023 human rights report. In this episode, we take a look at the various human rights violations that have occurred throughout 2023, here in Malaysia, and discuss changes that should happen in 2024. We speak to Jernell Tan, Documentation & Monitoring Coordinator, SUARAM.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Growing up, we read about the Holocaust and the Nazis and we think “How did people of that generation ever let this happen?” “How did the world stand and watch?” Well, we’re living through a massive genocide right now. Since last October, Israel has killed more than 30 000 people, half of whom are children. This is on top of the illegal occupation, settler colonialism, dispossession, ethnic cleansing the Palestinians have faced at the hands of the State of Israel for the past 70 years. We’re watching massacres happen live. Yet, the most influential media companies in the world, from the West, still take the Pro-Israel stance. There are millions of people protesting all over the world, including in the US and the UK. Hundreds of thousands of people march against their governments in DC and London, yet the political class of the Western Empire do not budge from their Pro-Israel stance. Many people around the world are feeling hopeless. There’s a sense of doomerism, understandably so. It feels like no matter what we do, we can’t defeat the bad guys. So, how do we make sense of all of this?Image credit: ShutterstockSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For months, the Malaysian Citizenship Rights Alliance (MCRA), constitutional experts and more have been pushing back against many of the proposed amendments by the Home Ministry due to its regressive and cruel nature that will only perpetuate statelessness. Last week, the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2024 which concerns stateless people, was tabled in Parliament. Interestingly, the Bill wasn’t voted on in Parliament due to “lack of time.” So, what is the content of the Bill that eventually hit parliament floors? What does it mean that the bill wasn’t voted on? What changes do we need to see before Parliament sits again in June?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The government of Malaysia will be launching the Progressive Wage Policy voluntary pilot programme in June. The policy draws inspiration from Singapore’s Progressive Wage Model, albeit with some key differences. So, what are these key differences and what can Malaysia learn from the successes and flaws of the Singapore model?Calvin Cheng and Kevin Zhang are two public policy researchers who recently wrote a paper for the Institute of Strategic & International Studies (ISIS) titled Malaysia’s Progressive Wage: A Guide to Policy Design Considerations for Effective Implementation.We unpack their paper in this episode. Image credit: Shutterstock AISee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Greater Klang Valley is a wonderfully diverse city of 8 million people and growing. And if there’s one thing the millions of people share is our frustration with the consistently congested streets. But what can we do about it?SocDem Malaysia is a new centre-left Think Tank. They recently released a research paper arguing that the central problem is the lack of a complete public transportation network, anchored by buses. They argue that if we are serious about tackling this problem, the Klang Valley needs 7000 more buses on the road. We speak to the co-founders of SocDem Malaysia, Rajiv Rishyakaran, (who’s also the ADUN of Bukit Gasing) and Kusaaliny Mahendran, (who’s also a Councillor at Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ). Image credit: ShutterstockSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The government of Malaysia has announced its intention to abolish the popular pension system for future civil service recruits and switch to retirement funds by way of EPF savings.  But is this a good move – one that would benefit members of the civil service and the country as a whole or will this be detrimental to members of the civil service, especially those earning lower wages? We speak to Lee Hwok-Aun, Senior Fellow of the Regional Economic Studies Programme, and Coordinator of the Malaysia Studies Programme, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. Image credit: ShutterstockSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Human Resource Minister, Steven Sim has announced that the government will review the minimum wage this year in accordance with the National Wages Consultative Council Act 2011. The question is, what should the new minimum wage be? How much should it increase from the current RM 1500? We speak to Alex Ong, Labour Rights Activist & Malaysian Coordinator of Migrant Care AND Sivaranjani Manickam, National Workers Bureau Coordinator, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM). Image credit: ShutterstockSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is a revolution ongoing in Myanmar. The people of Myanmar of various political ideologies and regions are engaging in civil disobedience and have also taken up arms against the military junta. There’s been talk about forging a new constitution and building a new Myanmar beyond and free from the junta. But where do the ethnic minority Rohingyas fit into this picture? After all, the Rohingya people have been subject to oppression, dispossession and genocide for decades, even before the recent coup. Millions of displaced Rohingyas are refugees in various parts of the world. We speak to Ro Nay San Lwin, a Rohingya activist, who’s currently based in Germany. Image credit: Free Rohingya CoalitionSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.