Consider This

In the upcoming year-end Parliamentary session, the Government will be tabling its proposed amendments to the Constitution to finally allow Malaysian women to confer citizenship to their overseas-born children. However, the Government is also planning to bundle several other amendments - amendments that remove existing protections in the Constitution, running the risk of perpetuating statelessness. On this episode of #ConsiderThis Melisa Idris speaks to Datuk Dr Hartini Zainudin, Co-Founder of Yayasan Chow Kit and Latheefa Koya, Co-founder of Lawyers for Liberty.

Recently the Deputy Minister of Law and Institutional Reform, Ramkarpal Singh, said that while there were no plans to repeal the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (SOSMA), Putrajaya will instead “improve” the law by introducing several amendments in stages. On this episode of #ConsiderThis Melisa Idris speaks to Charles Hector, Coordinator, Malaysians Against Death Penalty & Torture (Madpet) and Maria Chin, Former Petaling Jaya MP. In 2016, she was detained under SOSMA for 10 days

Law and Institutional Reform minister Azalina Othman Said recently announced the Government will finalise the separation of powers between the Attorney-General and the Public Prosecutor, after performing a thorough empirical study within a year. What needs to be in place for the separation of these two roles to occur, and what should a future Office of the Public Prosecutor look like? On this episode of #ConsiderThis Melisa Idris speaks to Aira Azhari, Senior Manager of the Democracy & Governance Unit for the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS Malaysia) and lawyer New Sin Yew.

The recent 2022 National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) on Adolescent Health brought to light a worrisome decline in the health and lifestyle habits of Malaysian teenagers. On this episode of #ConsiderThis, we dissect why public policy attention to adolescent health is no longer just an option but an urgent necessity. Melisa Idris speaks to Associate Professor Dr Noor Azimah Muhammad, Consultant in Family Medicine and Senior Lecturer at the Department of Family Medicine, at UKM’s Faculty of Medicine.

The Government has announced it will be working towards incorporating the Care Economy into national development and economic plans. This includes investing in and formalising care services which consequently makes visible the labour of unpaid care work, which women disproportionately shoulder.

On this episode of #ConsiderThis Melisa Idris speaks to economist Dr Haniza Khalid about the opportunities and challenges of the care economy.

What kind of parliamentary reforms will we see under 11th Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul? Will he be able to deliver these overdue changes during his tenure? On this episode of #ConsiderThis Melisa Idris asks Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul how to ensure parliamentary proceedings become more open, transparent, and effective.

Managing stray animal overpopulations sustainably and humanely lies at the intersection of animal welfare, state policies, and our collective responsibility as a compassionate society. On this episode of #ConsiderThis Melisa Idris speaks to Asther Lau of Second Chance Animal Society, and Christine Chin of SPCA Selangor.

Recently the Higher Education Minister Khaled Nordin confirmed that subsidies for local students studying at public universities would remain intact, despite the huge disparity with the cost of tuition in private institutions of higher learning. How do public universities sustainably fund the cost of providing higher education, and what are the trade-offs of receiving significant government funds to institutional autonomy? On this episode of #ConsiderThis Melisa Idris speaks to Dr Wan Chang Da, CEO of The Head Foundation, and former Director of the National Higher Education Research Institute, USM. 

Recently Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim revealed that the Government plans to introduce a new type of school specifically for children of the poorest households in the country. Tonight on #ConsiderThis Melisa Idris speaks to Jenifer Lasimbang, from The Indigenous Peoples Network of Malaysia or Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia, and Chan Soon Seng from Teach For Malaysia.

The Association of Women Lawyers (AWL) and the Pelajar Bukan Pengantin coalition have recently launched a new campaign to refocus attention on the issue of child marriage in Malaysia. This come amid questions as to the progress made under the five-year ‘National Strategic Plan in Handling the Causes of Child Marriage’, which was launched in 2020. Tonight on #ConsiderThis Melisa Idris speaks to AWL’s Sheena Gurbakhash and Professor Datuk Dr Noraida Endut of the Unit for Research on Women and Gender (KANITA) in USM.