BFM :: The Bigger Picture

Earlier this month, security experts and defense ministers from around the world converged in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore for the Asia Pacific Roundtable and the Shangri-La Dialogue respectively. Both have become important midyear annual gatherings for academics with the former, and government officials with the latter. Elina Noor, Director of Foreign Policy and Security Studies at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies, joins me now to give an overview of both proceedings.

As our earth heats up more and more each day, solutions are being searched for in every corner. Combining his engineering skills with his passion for humanity, Dr. Ernesto Hernandez, associate professor in the department of chemical and environmental engineering, offers a new spin on tackling global warming: Bio-inspired Chemical Engineering. What is this and how will it help? He joins us to discuss how he plans to engineer the global warming phenomenon for the better of humanity.

Dr George Lee returns to discuss the latest medical news. Expect deep insights delivered with generous humour. Daniel Liew from the Barista Guild joins Dr George Lee as they discuss coffee culture, coffee consumption and whether it causes bladder cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, had classed coffee as "possibly" carcinogenic in 1991 but has now decided to downgrade its cancer risk.

Odyssey’ is a term now in our general parlance evoking notions of a long journey. Some may remember Homer and his stories about the returning Greek. The Singapore Art Museum has commissioned (mostly Southeast Asian) artists to use that term in ways that would challenge our notions of seas, bodies of water and the boundaries they create and blur. Assistant Curator, Andrea Fam, talks about the works, artists and how space within the museum is used for an immersive experience.

One of the most pressing issues facing Singapore in the 1950s was the severe shortage of housing for its rapidly growing population. But imposing a solution on the population of Singapore would have drastic consequences for the identity and culture of Singaporeans, altering their relationship to the earth, to the state, and to each other. In this episode. PJ Thum sits down with Dr Loh Kah Seng, author of “Squatters into Citizens: The 1961 Bukit Ho Swee Fire and the Making of Singapore.” Please send questions, comments, and feedback to [email protected] or visit thehistoryofsingapore.com. Support the show at patreon.com/pjthum. For a longer version of this interview, please visit soundcloud.com/historysg/episode34.

For all the previous episodes in this series, search for "History of Singapore" on bfm.my.

We get up-close and personal with a young jazz saxophonist who many describe as the best pair of lips on the saxophone in the country. Most recently he was on stage with Branford Marsalis, jamming at a well-known jazz watering hole.

After more than a year of meeting and talking, the Selangor Philharmonic Orchestra and the Kuala Lumpur City Opera have realized a production, Opera Extravaganza 2016. Like all partnerships, there are compromises. We find out how these musicians negotiate to bring on stage a performance that satisfies both entities.  We also find out about the promised ‘extravaganza’.

Two diphteria related deaths were reported in Kedah and Malacca since June 18th, with at least four suspected cases in Malacca and eight more in Kedah. Senior Principal Assistant Director from the Disease Control Division of the Ministry of Health, Dr A'aishah Senin gives the latest updates on the vaccine-preventable disease.

A medical camp aims to reach out to more than 500 members of the needy and urban poor around Desa Mentari and Bandar Sunway. Kem Medik is an annual medical camp co-organised by MMA Selangor and partnered with the National Cancer Society of Malaysia and Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society. Here to tell us more about it is Rotary Club Bandar Sunway President, Arjan Pursumal, and Vocational Services Director, Dato’ Ram Nair.

The Singapore government announced two weeks ago that internet access to its public servants’ work computers will be restricted beginning next May. On the same week, it was also revealed that a few of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s social media accounts’ were hacked due to his low security password. Tech blogger Keith Rozario explains the possible reasons behind the city-state’s decision as well as how to better secure our online profiles.