Beyond the Ballot Box

Malaysia is incredibly polarised right now, especially across racial and religious lines. Perhaps that has always been the case to some degree, given the ethnocentric political parties and culture that have dominated a bulk of our history since independence and especially so post 1969. Things seem to be getting worse. You often get the sense that every community feels that they’re marginalised or that they don’t have a place in this country, or maybe that’s just the social media comment section. Of course, there’s no silver bullet to solving this. In this episode, we speak to Jason Wee, the founder of Architects of Diversity. We talk about some of the drivers of our racialised politics, if things are indeed getting worse and even the role of social media.Image Credit: ShutterstockSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Three things we often hear about Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley at large is that it’s incredibly congested, not walkable and that it is becoming increasingly unaffordable. But why do these problems persist? We speak to Aziff Azuddin, associate researcher at IMAN Research, about the greater Klang Valley’s urban design philosophy and key principles on building an equitable and inclusive city. Image Credit: ShutterstockSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s been a turbulent start to 2026. To kick off the year, the United States kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Just days later, some of the biggest protests in Iran in decades erupted and continue to unfold. Some leaders, particularly in the West, have framed the unrest from the perspective of human rights and are calling for intervention, while others advise caution and warn against meddling in the business of sovereign nations.  All of this is unfolding on top of the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the protracted war between Russia and Ukraine, and many other unfolding crises that continue to shape global politics and public imagination. How do we make sense of this convergence of crises?What does it mean for the future of global order? My guest on today’s show is Vijay Prashad. Vijay is a historian, journalist, and public intellectual. He’s one of the most important thinkers in the world when it comes to geopolitics and understanding power. He’s written numerous books, including Washington Bullets: A History of the CIA, Coups, and Assassinations, On Cuba, and The Darker Nations: A People’s History of the Third World. And he’s the director of the Tricontinental Institute For Social Research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You are probably already familiar with Teach For Malaysia, the education nonprofit that does incredible work by placing committed young leaders in under-resourced schools and developing them into long-term advocates for educational equity. It is one of, if not the most important, education nonprofits in the country. What many may not realise is that Teach For Malaysia is part of a global network called Teach For All, which traces its roots back to the late 80s. In 1989, Wendy Kopp founded Teach For America while still a university student herself. She later co-founded Teach For All, which has grown from strength to strength, expanding its wings across the globe. In this episode, we speak to Wendy Kopp about Teach For All’s origin story, the challenges they face, understanding global education inequities, and more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lim Yi Wei is the ADUN for Kampung Tunku and DAP Wanita national assistant publicity secretary. Yi Wei, whose parents were both teachers in public schools, is a social democrat at heart and believes in building a fairer and more equitable Malaysia for all.Recently, she penned an article titled "What Next for DAP," where she argued that the party’s social democratic roots have increasingly been overtaken by neoliberal thinking, and called for a clearer, values-driven return to politics centered on justice, equity, and the common good.In this episode, we talk to her about her personal journey in politics, the importance of social democracy, the limits of neoliberalism, and the future of the DAP.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are all part of a system – a global capitalist neoliberal economy – that is geared towards profit maximisation over creating a fair and dignified world for everybody. Even the environment is seen as a commodity to be extracted and destroyed for profit. Technology is so advanced and we have created tremendous amounts of wealth, yet most people across the world do not earn enough to afford basic necessities. The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and our nature is depleted further and further. Today, many young people struggle with stagnant wages, unaffordable housing, and healthcare. In his new book titled Notes on the Way Forward: A Socialist Perspective, Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj, who’s also the chairperson of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), takes a sharp look at the structural failures of capitalism and the alternatives before us.On today’s show, we speak with Dr. Kumar about how we can build a better, more sustainable, and dignified Malaysia for everyone.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Where is Europe heading? This is one of the big questions as we shift towards a more fractured and multipolar world order. Europe is in a moment of deep political and ideological reckoning. After all, we’re seeing the rise of right-wing movements, anti-immigration sentiments, a yearning by some quarters to “go back” to a less multicultural imagined past. In this episode, we have a conversation with Nikita Dhawan, who holds the chair in Political Theory and History of Ideas at the Technical University Dresden. Her research and teaching focus on global justice, human rights, democracy, and decolonization. She is the author of many books, including Rescuing the Enlightenment from the Europeans: Critical Theories of Decolonization. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From memes to heated exchanges in the comment section, feminism is often distorted through the lens of viral and even ragebait content on social media and reduced to caricatures and stereotypes. Today, feminism has even become a sort of ‘foul word’ in some quarters, with some women trying to distance themselves from the label, as well. But beyond the noise, lies a global grassroots movement against the patriarchy, shaped by history, economics, and everyday realities on the ground. Maria Castro Varela is a feminist thinker and professor of Pedagogy and Social Work at the Alice Salomon University in Berlin. In this episode, we speak to her about some myths surrounding feminism, what the movement truly stands for, what some feminists get wrong, and why men should be part of the movement too.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ethnic affirmative action has shaped Malaysian policymaking and political discourse for more than five decades. The transformational New Economic Policy (NEP) and subsequent similar frameworks have anchored national debates on inequality, opportunity, and the country’s broader social contract. Yet despite how central these policies are to our politics, our understanding of where interethnic inequality actually stands today is surprisingly patchy: we know the broad narrative, but not the details. We talk about progress or regress, quotas and meritocracy, but rarely examine who has moved up, who has stalled, and why. In this episode, we speak to Lee Hwok-Aun, a Senior Fellow and Co-coordinator of the Malaysia Studies Programme at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. He recently published an article titled Interethnic income inequality in Malaysia: Revisiting Old Records, Exploring New Narratives, which takes a hard look at these questions and challenges some of our long-held assumptions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

9% of Malaysian women who have ever been in a relationship experience domestic violence. 9% may not seem like much, but that essentially amounts to about 800,000 Malaysian women. These are the very realities that Eswari Varanarasamma from WAO confronts in her daily work.Eswari Varanarasamma is a social worker at the Women’s Aid Organisation, where she works closely with women and children affected by domestic violence. In light of WAO’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence campaign, in this episode, we speak to Eswari about her journey as a social worker, some of the challenges she faces, and more.If you’re experiencing domestic violence, here are some numbers you can contact. You are not alone. WAO Hotline: +603 3000 8858 (9 am – 5 pm)SMS/WhatsApp TINA: +6018 988 8058 (24 hours)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

United Nations experts have warned that there is “widespread and systematic” exploitation and deception affecting Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia. In their statement, they highlight excessive and fraudulent recruitment fees, false job offers, passport confiscation, forced labour and forced return. Simply put, this is debt bondage, or to put it even more plainly, modern-day slavery. But what is driving this? How much do poverty, desperation, the lack of opportunity in home countries, and the reliance on cheap labour in the Malaysian economy contribute to and maintain this system? In this episode, we speak to Adrian Pereira, who’s the Director of the North South Initiative (NSI), about corruption, the imbalance of power, inequality and the international division of labour. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Al Awda is a documentary by Singaporean Jason Soo that follows 22 activists from 15 countries as they sail on the Al Awda Flotilla in an attempt to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza in 2018. Originally meant to leave the journey early, Jason ended up remaining on board, capturing the activists’ fears, strategies and decision-making as they approached an inevitable confrontation with the Israeli Occupying Force. Among the activists onboard were Malaysian academic Afandi Salleh and Singaporean exile Dr Ang Swee Chai.In this episode, we speak to Jason about his personal journey in activism, his documentary and more. If you'd like to watch Al Awda, do catch the screening happening on Friday, the 5th of December at 8.30pm at the Damansara Performing Arts Centre (DPAC).Entrance is by a minimum donation of RM30, with proceeds split between crowdfunding for Al Awda and Viva Palestina Malaysia’s winter campaign. Registration for the event is available at bit.ly/AlAwdaKL.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malaysia’s latest labour force figures paint a mixed and intriguing picture of the economy in 2025. Unemployment has fallen to a decade-low of 3%, signalling a labour market that appears resilient on the surface. Growth is also being supported by strong investment flows and steady expansion across key industries, or at least that’s the impression we get from the headlines every time the government announces billions of dollars of investments coming from one country or another.Yet, beneath that headline lie deeper problems. Large numbers of Malaysians are still working jobs that don’t match their qualifications, wages are still stagnating and there are serious concerns about the inadequacy of retirement savings among a vast majority of people.So, what does this all tell us? And how do we ensure economic dignity and upward mobility for all Malaysians? As we slowly wind down towards the end of the year, in this episode, we unpack these questions with Dr Geoffrey Williams, Economist & Founder of Williams Business Consultancy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 2025 Sabah state election is taking place this weekend on the 29th of November. There are close to 600 candidates representing various parties or running independently, contesting for 73 seats. There are multi-cornered fights everywhere. Indeed Sabah is highly democratised and fluid politically. Its electoral history has been shaped by shifting demographics, the struggle over state rights, and cycles of political instability marked by strong personalities and frequent party defections. Recently, Tindak Malaysia published a historical atlas of Sabah elections through the years, exploring the various forces that have shaped Sabah elections. In this episode, we unpack key lessons from Sabah election history with Danesh Prakash Chacko, who's the director of Tindak Malaysia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kampung Jalan Papan in Klang is a decades-old settlement where families have lived since before independence.Over the years, the land was transferred, developed and contested, eventually leading a private developer to obtain court orders enabling eviction and demolition. Despite repeated promises of resettlement and affordable housing from both state authorities and the developer, residents say the offers were inconsistent and promises were never delivered.In November 2025, eviction enforcement escalated into on-site demolitions, tense confrontations, and arrests of residents and activists, prompting human rights groups to condemn the operation as heavy-handed and a violation of due process.In today's episode, we speak to S. Arutchelvan, Deputy Chairperson of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM). Arutchelvan was one of the activists who were arrested last week while organising and fighting alongside the residents of Kampung Papan. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Markela Panegyres is an Australian performance artist, academic, activist and a member of the Socialist Alliance Australia. Known for her raw, provocative performances and video installations, she explores themes of trauma, memory, power, and resistance. Beyond the arts, she is a vocal left-wing organiser deeply involved in Palestine solidarity work, actively campaigns for the academic boycott of Israel, and has helped lead student and staff actions pushing universities to cut ties with Israeli institutions. In this episode, we speak to her about her journey as an activist and discuss how the Palestine solidarity movement can evolve from winning the discourse to winning tangible changes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Neil Woods was once a dedicated narcotics officer. In fact, he spent 14 years working undercover, infiltrating drug gangs in Britain’s underworld. But something changed throughout that journey. Now, Woods is one of the leading advocates for drug policy reform, calling for the end of the war on drugs. He wrote a book titled Good Cop, Bad War, chronicling how his attempts to infiltrate and dismantle drug gangs gradually led him to question the entire system. In this episode, we speak to Neil Woods about his journey, what he witnessed during his time as a narcotics officer and the drug policy reforms he’s championing. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Zohran Mamdani has won the New York City mayoral election, defeating Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa. Not only that, he also received more than 50% of the popular vote. He’s a proud Democratic Socialist, and notably, the first Muslim and South Asian to become mayor of New York City.Billionaires reportedly spent over 22 million dollars trying to stop him, yet he won. Donald Trump and Elon Musk publicly attacked him and endorsed Andrew Cuomo. Yet, Mamdani won. Not only did he win, he won on an unabashedly, proudly, multicultural, people-centered platform focused on affordability, including pledges to freeze rents, provide fast and free public buses, and ensure universal childcare.He plans to fund these initiatives by taxing New York’s wealthiest residents: multimillionaires and billionaires.So, how did a Democratic Socialist become mayor in the heart of global capitalism? And what does it signal?We speak to Professor Peter Beattie, who's a political economist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the 2024 Oxfam report, it was revealed that the richest 1% in the Global North extracted US$263 billion from the Global South in 2023 — a stark reminder that inequality and neocolonial exploitation remain hardwired into the global economy. Meanwhile, far-right movements are gaining ground across continents, progressive spaces are grappling with internal contradictions, and even causes like Palestine are being twisted to justify bigotry.In this episode, we speak to Jacob Andrewartha, a member of the Socialist Alliance, Australia. He’s also a childcare worker with history of involvement in the Pro-Palestine movement and Climate Justice. Also part of the discussion is Arveent Kathirchelvan, Coordinator of Policy Research Bureau, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM).On a related note, an international socialism conference will be happening on 15–16 November, 9am-6pm, at the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH). The conference will feature socialist activists, academics, and thinkers from Malaysia and across the world.Check out the lineup of speakers and get your tickets here: https://shorturl.at/ISOy1Image Credit: ShutterstockSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Around the world, money is increasingly a gatekeeper to political power. Malaysia is no different. If someone wants to step into politics from outside the elite circle, it’s a tremendous challenge. In two new reports by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, the numbers speak for themselves. For example, candidates face mandatory deposits of about RM15,000 for parliamentary seats. Internal party contests and party-level advancement can also be expensive, costing tens of thousands. Then there’s the legal fees, sustaining an elected office, and on and on and on.The two WFD studies argue these cost structures act as a “screening mechanism” that disproportionately excludes women, young people, independent candidates and persons with disabilities, which distorts representation and governance.In this episode we speak to Dr Graeme Ramshaw, Director of Quality and Innovation, Westminster Foundation for Democracy, as well as Ooi Kok Hin, Country Director for WFD in Malaysia.Links to read their full reports: COP national study: https://www.wfd.org/what-we-do/resources/cost-politics-malaysia COP and Women Candidates: https://www.wfd.org/what-we-do/resources/women-and-cost-politics-malaysiaImage Credit: ShutterstockSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.