Consider This

Buying new clothes & apparel for the festive season is a gesture of hope & a chance to sparkle socially. But how is the current mood shaping tastes? Tonight on Consider This Melisa Idris & Sharaad Kuttan speak to designer Alia Bastamam about Hari Raya styling this year.

Hari Raya is upon us - a celebration that is simultaneously religious and cultural. How has Hari Raya changed for you over the years and how has it expressed itself in our literature and popular culture? Melisa Idris and Sharaad Kuttan speak to Adriana Nordin Manan is a writer, playwright, translator.

The scientific community has long called for the increased use of data science and AI in the fight against Covid-19. We understand the advantage it can give us. But what principles should guide the use of AI forecasting models for tracking and infection prediction? Melisa Idris and Sharaad Kuttan speak to Dr Helmi Zakariah, Panel Member, Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence for Health, World Health Organisation.

The scientific community has long called for the increased use of data science and AI in the fight against Covid-19. We understand the advantage it can give us. But what principles should guide the use of AI forecasting models for tracking and infection prediction? Melisa Idris and Sharaad Kuttan speak to Dr Helmi Zakariah, Panel Member, Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence for Health, World Health Organisation.

The government has a new warning system, touted to predict future Covid-19 hotspots. The Hotspots Identification for Dynamic Engagement system, or better known as HIDE, will -- as the government claims -- allow it to take pre-emptive action so that certain premises or areas can avoid turning into Covid-19 clusters. But what’s gone wrong in its implements that it has one of its main stakeholders up in arms? Melisa Idris and Sharaad Kuttan speak to Datuk Ameer Ali Mydin, Managing Director of the hypermarket & emporium chain, Mydin.

While the incompetence of India’s central government has been well reported, Prime Minister Modi presides over decades of healthcare under-investment and the deepest structural inequalities. What hope is there in the short term of remedying the situation and bringing the pandemic under control? Melisa Idris and Sharaad Kuttan speak to Professor Sanjeev Krishna, Professor of Molecular Parasitology and Medicine, Institute of Infection and Immunity, London.

Just two months ago, on the 8th of March, India's health minister was quoted as saying that India was in the "endgame of the pandemic". But in the past few weeks, India's Covid caseload has risen sharply -- in fact, India accounted for 46% of the new Covid-19 cases recorded worldwide last week, and one in four of deaths globally. So, how did India get from relative calm to its new crisis? Melisa Idris and Sharaad Kuttan speak to Professor Sanjeev Krishna, Professor of Molecular Parasitology and Medicine, Institute of Infection and Immunity, London.

Does Liew Chin Tong’s win settle the debate once and for all about the two divergent tendencies within DAP - one that leans towards its Chinese demographic base, and the other towards its stated multiracial commitments. And how will the party have to change substantively to address the changing shape of Malaysian society? Melisa Idris and Sharaad Kuttan speak to political scientist Wong Chin Huat.

Liew Chin Tong retained his position as Johor DAP chief for the fourth straight term at the state party elections last weekend, with Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching as his deputy. The contest captured headlines as a battle between two divergent tendencies in a party, one leaning towards its Chinese demographic base and the other towards its stated multiracial commitments. But does Chin Tong’s win settle the debate once and for all? Melisa Idris and Sharaad Kuttan speak to Liew Chin Tong, Senator, Dewan Negara and Chief for DAP Johor.