Beyond the Ballot Box

The Selangor state government has announced a free breakfast programme for schoolchildren, which is scheduled to begin in August. It is aimed at ensuring students have access to nutritious meals before they begin their school day with a target of reaching 120,000 pupils in 965 schools. 

Former Klang MP Charles Santiago has argued that the initiative should not be limited to Selangor, but expanded into a nationwide programme as part of a broader effort to tackle child hunger, food insecurity and the rising cost of living faced by families. So, on today’s show, we speak to Charles Santiago about the case for free school meals, what it would take to scale up such a programme at a national level, and why ensuring every child starts the day with a proper meal should be seen as a national priority. 

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City councillors are the unsung champions of local politics, covering a wide range of jurisdictions such as infrastructure and development. Is serving the community a good first step into national politics for youth? We speak to Nalina Nair, Petaling Jaya City Councillor and Publicity Secretary for DAP Women Selangor on the viability of councillors as a pathway into politics.

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Gandipan Nantha Gopalan, Central Committee Member, Parti Sosialis Malaysia

Description: Socialism has been gaining renewed attention around the world. In the English-speaking world, figures like Zohran Mamdani in the US and Zack Polanski in the UK have brought socialist ideas back into mainstream political conversations. At the same time, there are growing calls for higher taxes on the wealthy and a fairer redistribution of resources, with voices like Gary Stevenson highlighting the deepening inequalities within modern capitalism. But it isn’t just the Anglosphere. From Spain and France to Brazil and Mexico, socialist and left-wing ideas continue to shape political debates. 

But in Malaysia, that has not been the case. Many mainstream parties, including those that carry social democratic branding, have largely embraced neoliberal ideas. There is, of course, Parti Sosialis Malaysia, which continues to offer a clear alternative centred on class politics. Yet despite decades of organising around issues such as workers’ rights, housing, and inequality, PSM has found it difficult to break through politically, often losing deposits when contesting elections.

So what is the future of socialism in Malaysia? What strategies does the movement need to grow? 

We speak to Gandipan Nantha Gopalan, who’s a Central Committee Member at Parti Sosialis Malaysia.

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A social media arena can make or break a political party’s success in modern elections. However, is going viral enough to make a breakthrough in Malaysian politics? Na’Im Brundage, Exco of ARMADA, which is Bersatu’s youth wing and TikTok influencer, shares his journey from content creator to political maverick. 

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Reluctant Capital: Essays on Kuala Lumpur is a new book which explores how KL and the Klang Valley has grown into a modern capital while grappling with deep social, political, and economic tensions. Through a series of essays combining urban theory with on-the-ground research, author Badrul Hisham Ismail examines how neoliberalism, government-controlled development and Malaysia's ethnic politics have shaped the city's landscape and who benefits from it.

In this episode, we speak to Badrul about this book. We’re discuss a whole host of things including shopping malls, gated communities and the indigenous population that was here before most of us.

You can purchase Reluctant Capital: Essays on Kuala Lumpur by clicking here. 

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The average age of members of Parliament in Malaysia is a staggering 52.4 years old. So, why would young people want to join politics? What motivates them? 

In the second episode of Ones to Watch, we speak to Cassel Krishnan, Melaka DAPSY chief and a violin teacher on his journey into politics, and the challenges youth face in rising in party leadership. 

Listen to the first episode here.

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We're just a few days away from the Johor state election on the 11th of July. As Johor positions itself to become one of Malaysia's most important economic engines, with the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone aiming to attract major investments and high-value industries, questions are also being asked about who stands to benefit from that growth. 

Will these investments translate into better wages, better jobs and higher living standards for ordinary Johoreans, or will the gains be unevenly shared? So, on the road to the elections, we discuss Johor's political-economic trajectory, and what kind of future the state is really building, with Dr Francis Hutchinson, Principal Fellow & Coordinator of the Malaysia Studies Programme, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. 

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1.2 million youth became eligible voters when Malaysia lowered the voting age to 18 in 2019. As Malaysia enters another season of elections, are youth ready to step up to participate in national politics? Nurul Rifayah, a youth activist and Ahmed Faris, CEO of Impact Integrated, walk us through reflections on the past four years of youth in politics.

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The big perennial problem in Malaysia is wages. A lot of Malaysians today feel they're working harder but not getting ahead—they're either experiencing stagnant incomes or finding themselves worse off than the generation before—because wages remain stubbornly low. Despite years of economic growth, many households continue to struggle with the rising cost of living, raising fundamental questions about whether the benefits of that growth are being shared fairly. So, what’s the deal with wages in Malaysia?

In this episode, we unpack this topic with Dr Matthew Dornan, Senior Economist at the World Bank. The World Bank has recently produced a study called Raising the Ceiling, Raising the Floor: The Jobs Agenda as a Productivity Agenda for Malaysia. 

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According to UNHCR, there are about 117 million asylum seekers worldwide as of 2025. In Malaysia, approximately 200,000 refugees and asylum seekers are registered with UNHCR, with estimates suggesting the actual number may be significantly higher. In past interviews, we’ve talked extensively about some of the challenges faced by refugees. 

The truth is, whether we “like” them or not, so long as people in parts of the world are getting bombed, ethnically cleansed and facing severe persecution, there will be refugees. And they will go wherever that makes the most sense geographically and logistically, for safety. 

In this episode, we explore a few angles, including why there’s been a rise of anti-Rohingya sentiment in recent weeks, if refugees are a strain to public services and whether the new DPP – Dokumen Pendaftaran Pelarian or Refugee Registration Document – by the government is a step in the right direction. 

We speak to Aira Azhari, CEO, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS). 

Recommended reading: 

The Economic Impact of Granting Refugees in Malaysia the Right to Work. 

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