It is no secret that Malaysia is a highly racialised country. Over the past decade, racial discrimination has not only persisted but evolved in new and complex ways. But are things getting better or worse? More importantly, are we getting better at understanding racism beyond simplistic framings of majority vs. minority?

Pusat KOMAS recently released Malaysia Racism Report: A Decade in Review. Basically, it’s a deep dive into how racism has shaped policies, institutions, and everyday life over the last ten years—covering everything from hiring discrimination to political narratives and even racism in private businesses.

We unpack the report with Jerald Joseph who’s the director of Pusat KOMAS. 

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We're increasingly seeing the Uberization of the economy, where platform-driven gig work with wages based on algorithms, and precarious labor conditions have become the norm. Look around and you’ll see many young Malaysians as e-hailing drivers and food delivery riders. But people aren’t just doing this as part-time gigs in between jobs or while waiting for college to start – it is the primary source of income for many, including some who have Bachelor’s Degrees. Also, think about your consumer patterns. How often did you order takeout via a delivery app before the pandemic? How often do you do it now?

But why is this happening? What exactly is the impact of this phenomenon? 

In this episode, we’re joined by Jeremy Lim who’s doing his PHD at University of Malaya, the editor of Jentayu and a Senior Data Analyst at the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (Asia Office). He recently wrote an article for the New Mandala titled Malaysia can do better than “platform capitalism.”

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Over the years, especially since the 1MDB scandal, Malaysians have become more familiar with the term ‘corruption.’ Not only have we broadened our understanding of it (no longer do we think it’s just about bribery), it has also become part of mainstream political discourse. 

Malaysians know that our country has an entrenched problem of corruption and that it is holding us back, eating us from the inside and eroding our trust in the system.

But just how deep is the rot? How does it manifest in ways beyond the obvious headlines of high-profile arrests? Why is it so challenging to reform the system? 

In this episode, we’re joined by Edmund Terence Gomez, author of an insightful book titled Misgovernance: Grand Corruption in Malaysia. It offers an in-depth examination of the perverse entanglement of politics and business in Malaysia through something called the “Political-GLC Complex.” Unlike broad critiques that dismiss GLCs outright, Gomez looks at the intricate ways in which they are run in Malaysia and how specific policies and practices have turned an idea with egalitarian objectives into a vehicle for power and patronage.

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Defamation laws are incredibly important to protect individuals and organisations from false and harmful baseless statements. They help to curb falsehoods that could influence public opinion or even business markets. However, what happens when these defamation laws are abused by big corporations to prevent the public from holding them accountable? What if they hide behind defamation laws while exploiting workers? What if they use it to prevent people from speaking out? 

Recently, Mohanarani Rasaiah (Rani) from Parti Sosialis Malaysia penned an article highlighting the troubling rise of defamation suits being used to silence activists and marginalized communities. She detailed how four ongoing lawsuits target their work advocating for farmers, cattle herders, migrant workers, and security guards—all of whom were merely seeking justice for labor rights violations and land evictions.

In this episode, Rani joins us to discuss all of this and more.

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EPF contributions will now be mandatory for migrant workers. This comes after the Dewan Rakyat passed amendments to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Act 1991 recently. The proposal was first announced in Budget 2025 and under this scheme, both the employer and employee contribution rate is set at 2%. 

So, is this a step in the right direction for labour rights in Malaysia? Or does it just side step the core problem in Malaysia which is wage suppression? 

We unpack this with Alex Ong from Migrant Care.

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Malaysia is politically fragmented and polarized. To make matters worse, this division is drawn along racial and religious lines, fueling deep and growing distrust between ethnic and religious communities. At the same time, discussions about race and religion remain lacklustre often framed as a highly sensitive issue that shouldn’t be talked about altogether OR oversimplified narratives. 

So, how do we move forward?

Recently, The All-Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia (APPGM) on Racial and Religious Harmony was officially established as a bipartisan initiative aimed at addressing racial and religious tensions in the country.

But what do they hope to achieve? And how will they be any different from the many “unity” initiatives we’ve seen over the years?

In this episode, we speak to two guests. Firstly, Datuk Seri Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa who’s a senator in the Dewan Negara. He is Deputy President of Parti Amanah Negara and is the deputy chairperson of the APPGM-RRH. We’re also joined by Jason Wee, Founder of Architects of Diversity (AOD). AOD is the secretariat of the APPGM-RRH.

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The Urban Renewal Act is set to be tabled in Parliament in the first quarter of 2025. This is arguably one of the most prominent pieces of legislation that is set to be tabled by the MADANI government in their first term in power. It has certainly been one of the most hotly debated ones. The act ultimately sets out to facilitate the redevelopment of aging and abandoned urban properties, enable better planning and modernize city spaces. However, the core of the act, which will lower the consent threshold for en-bloc sales, has invited passionate responses. Some worry about the potential displacement of lower-income groups while others are concerned that their rights as landlords will be diminished, among others. 

We unpack some of the key arguments for and against the act and discern if it’s something Malaysia needs. We speak to Nischal Muniandy, Senior Executive of Research, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), and a member of Transit Malaysia.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The benefits of the Urban Renewal Act and how it can revitalise the city and enable better town planning.

• How the current legal framework encourages NIMBYism (Not in My Backyard).

• How the proposed URA and land and development policies in Malaysia compare to other parts of the world known for progressive housing and development rights, such as Australia, China, Singapore and Vienna, which is the capital of Austria.

• Concerns that the URA could lead to gentrification or worse, the displacement of lower-income groups altogether.

• If "tyranny of the majority" is a valid argument.
  
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The recent German elections saw a big shift toward right-wing parties. The CDU, which is a Christian democratic and conservative party won, while the far-right Neo-Nazi party AFD came in second after making massive gains. This isn’t necessarily surprising. After all, for a while now, we’ve been talking about how far-right parties/movements are on the rise in many parts of the world, certainly in Europe and the US. 

But what does this mean? What does it tell us about the direction of German politics? 

We unpack everything with Frederik Holst who’s an Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations at Albukhary University. 

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The Parliamentary Services Act (PSA) 2025 was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat this week, by the Minister of Law and Institutional Reform, Dato Seri Azalina Othman Said. 

The PSA was enacted in 1963 but was later repealed in 1992 during Tun Dr Mahathir’s first tenure as Prime Minister. This move reduced the autonomy of Parliament and concentrated more power in the office of the Prime Minister. 

So, will the new PSA 2025 restore the independence of Parliament?

In this episode, we're once again joined by Ngeow Chow Ying, Convenor, Project Stability and Accountability for Malaysia - also known as Projek SAMA.

We discuss if the bill that has been tabled actually addresses issues of parliamentary autonomy and independence, how the structures of parliament will change and if it will bring about an improvement in accountability and transparency.

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We often hear that human beings are inherently selfish; That we’re naturally driven by profit and personal wealth accumulation; That success is solely determined by one’s superior intelligence or work ethic, and that we love to compete. We say this is human nature. 

But is this literally human nature from a scientific point of view or is it merely a perspective derived from a particular political-economic ideology, namely capitalism or perhaps even more specifically neoliberalism that rapidly permeated across the world since the 1980s?

In this episode, we unpack this topic with Karim Bettache, who’s a political/social psychologist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). He’s been researching and writing about this topic for many years now, including in a paper he wrote in 2024 titled Where Is Capitalism? Unmasking Its Hidden Role in Psychology. 

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