BFM :: The Bigger Picture

Dr Dhilip Kumar believes there is much we can do to promote health and wellness through yoga therapy. In conjunction with International Yoga Day, we find out a little bit more about the complementary benefits of practising yoga.

The horrific gang rape and brutal murder of a 14-year old girl in Sumatra spurred Indonesian President Joko Widodo to sign a decree amending the country's law on child rape, to introduce harsher punishments including chemical castration. We speak to Mariza Abdulkadir, the interim Executive Director of the child advocacy NGO, Protect & Save The Children, on whether the introduction of tougher laws can help deter sexual crimes committed against children.

The jazz pianist and the musician-sound engineer, tell about the production of a music CD. They give us a look into the process and explain how a band can be larger than itself in the studio. They also express why in theory one kind of performance should not cannibalise the other.

Find out how to buy their latest album on the WVC - Malaysian Jazz Ensemble page.

In this monthly series on landmark legal decisions, we explore how the law shapes our society and vice versa. On this episode, lawyer K. Shanmuga looks at two recent court rulings' effect on the state of the media in Malaysia. The first one - Pahang Menteri Besar vs. Utusan Melayu -  prohibits public officials from suing reporters for defamation, while the other - a Federal Court decision - allows journalists to protect their sources by keeping their identities confidential.

Dr. Dhesi Raja has developed an Artificial Intelligence in Medical Epidemiology (AIME), a disease-prediction mobile platform that employs technology and data to predict deadly disease outbreaks. Dr Dhesi’s dengue prediction app was also recognised by the PISTOIA alliance as the winner for their Mini Startup Challenge held in London, United Kingdom. Through webe Community, Dr Dhesi hopes to champion his project in order to control dengue outbreaks in Malaysia.

The husband-and-wife team, after more than two decades in the UK, now back in the country, are featuring dances that they choreographed for "From Soho to Shinjuku • Half Man Half Myth – A Double Bill", and in one of which Ming Low is dancing in. They tell about dancing and how dances can tell stories and relate experiences, and at the same time avoid cliches of dance vocabularies.

The Harry Potter film series are over, at least for now. A stage production, going beyond the time frame in the books, has just started. And so has a spoof which condenses seven Harry Potter books into 70 minutes. Dan and James talk about Potted Potter, the unauthorized Harry experience, telling where they found the humor. 

d’Arcy Lunn’s dreams and daily life are dedicated to a world without extreme poverty for everyone, everywhere. His self-initiated project and presentation, Teaspoons of Change, focuses on the personal choices, decisions and actions that have a positive impact on people and the planet. He has travelled to more than 80 countries and worked with leading aid, development and global education organisations and people. He joins us to discuss his approach of working on out-of-the-box projects to eliminate world poverty.

The news of a doctor who saved a child whose hand was stuck in an escalator went viral recently. We catch up with Dr Dalvinder Singh, whom we last had on the show in 2010 as a nominee for the AYA Youth Awards, about the incident. More importantly, Dr Dalvinder, who is now with the Sarawak Health Department shares his views about the state's health challenges, from delivering healthcare to the interiors to dealing with soaring teenage pregnancies.

To find out more about how Dr Dalvinder Singh is using his newfound fame for good, check out HelpSomebody, a social enterprise that connects people to make a difference in the community.

Students as young as 4 years old can begin to show promise - early ability to read, unusually high vocabulary, exceptional memory - but what does it mean to be labeled a gifted child? Critics argue such an identification further entrench socio-economic disadvantages, while some parents have to contend with the paradox of gifted children who also have a learning disability. Explaining these and more is Dr. Inderbir Sandhu, who is the former vice president of the National Association of Gifted Children Malaysia (NAGCM) and has been working with individuals of high abilities for over 20 years.

This is the first episode in our series on gifted children, listen to Episode 2 - The Role of Schools where we spoke to Dr. Philip Whitehead, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Management.