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?

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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’.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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