BFM :: The Bigger Picture

Non-profit organisation Save our Environment, Save Ourselves’ (SESO) main goal is to fight against food waste and food poverty. But they are also working to build communities, in particular amongst people who are suffering from social isolation. We find out how they do this from Tan Shi Wen, the Founder/CEO of SESO and Gary Liew, a Co-Partner with SESO.

Malaysia does not provide undocumented migrant workers an avenue to seek redress for unpaid wages - are we allowing unscrupulous employers to get away with fraud? We speak to Joseph Paul Maliamauv from Tenaganita, to find out more about the current ongoing case in the Shah Alam High Court involving Indonesian national Nona (not her real name), who did not receive her wages after being employed as a domestic worker and shop assistant for four-and-a-half years. 

The world is in tears over the fire that broke out in the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. But not everyone is mourning.

We are back for the second installment of our open clinic series, where you get our doctors to address your health concerns. On today’s show, consultant dermatology specialist, Dr Bong Jan Ling joins us to discuss skin health.

Urban legend and personal narrative come together in “Fragrance” (or “Wangian”),, a monologue inspired by  the murder of a young woman and the hauntings along the Vale of Tempe in Penang. We speak with the show’s playwright/director Noor Rizuwan and performer Darynn Wee about how facts, anecdotes, and myths mingle in the show to uncover what might be behind these events.

Argadol, an artist from France, finds inspiration in pop art and street art. His first exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, called “Brave New World -  Today’s Key Issues Seen through Pop Art”, uses portraiture rendered with bold colours and motifs to examine modern living. We speak with Argadol about his work.

If you were a female football fan in Iran, you’d have to disguise yourself as a man to watch a match in the stadium.

A day at a petting zoo may be fun for the whole family but do we know what bacteria and viruses are lurking there?

Rare diseases affect a small percentage of the population and as such, the availability of drugs for treatment is limited. In today’s show, we explore the challenges of accessing orphan drugs in Malaysia with Assoc Prof Dr Asrul Akmal Shafie, the Program Chairman of Discipline of Social & Administrative Pharmacy from Universiti Sains Malaysia.

There has been heated debate over the radioactive waste produced at the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) in Kuantan, which is owned by Lynas Corporation, Ltd. an Australian rare-earths mining company. Lynas insists that it abides by international safety standards and industry practices, and that critics have ignored the science in the matter. Together with guest host and science journalist Dr. Law Yao Hua, we try to understand the science of radioactivity with the help of medical physicist Prof Ng Kwan Hoong from Universiti Malaya, and Dr Abdul Muin Abdul Rahman, the Deputy Director General of the Malaysian Nuclear Agency.