Consider This

What has been the impact of COVID-19 and the MCO on persons with disabilities - on their lives, services they need and on their livelihoods. Melisa Idris and Sharaad Kuttan speak to Ras Adiba Radzi, president of the NGO, OKU Sentral, if the community was consulted in the framing of the public health response.

United Nations' Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities asserts that when speaking about the community we must be mindful of the slogan "Nothing about us, without us". Melisa Idris and Sharaad Kuttan speak to Ras Adiba Radzi, president of the NGO, OKU Sentral, on where she would like the national conversation to go.

Today the Federal Court has decided that it will hear the contempt of court proceedings against Malaysiakini, over readers’ comments on its site that prosecutors claim undermined the judiciary. The seven-judge panel ruled that Malaysiakini had facilitated the publication of the comments, and was presumed in law to have published the comments. A contempt hearing will be held on July 13th. Melisa Idris and Sharaad Kuttan bring you the most important conversations of the day.

As government statistics begin to capture the ground realities, we are getting a clearer picture of which groups are suffering the greatest hardship in these uncertain times. While young people are expected to be more resilient and are said to be able to look to the future with optimism, is this in fact how they understand their current situation? Melisa Idris and Sharaad Kuttan speak to Firdaus Husni, Chief Human Rights Strategist, Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights.

Recent research has shown that youth unemployment in Sabah is at a worrying level with some estimates putting it at 100 thousand. What are causes of this level of unemployment and can be done to address it. Melisa Idris and Sharaad Kuttan speak to Farid Sainuri, President, Sabah Youth Council.

A Sabah college calling on its employees to take a pay cut or resign has had a lifeline thrown to it by the Chief Minister who declared that there would be no pay cuts and jobs terminations. But with revenues shrinking how long can the government subsidise higher education? Melisa Idris and Sharaad Kuttan bring you the most important conversations of the day.

The expression “return the people’s mandate” has been used to define how those who voted for the Pakatan Harapan coalition feel cheated. Many think “party-hopping” and be resolved through an “Anti-Party Hopping” law. But even if such a law could be enacted and not breach the Constitution, would it be desirable? Melisa Idris and Sharaad Kuttan speak to political scientist Wong Chin Huat.

If anti-hopping laws are problematic, how then do we address what is clearly a deep dissatisfaction among the public with the practice known as ‘party-hopping’? Will it need a combination of electoral system change, protections for elected representatives and the use of a re-call mechanisms to bring our democratic process in line with the aspirations of the electorate? Melisa Idris and Sharaad Kuttan speak to political scientist Wong Chin Huat.

The Home Ministry has ordered the police to probe those linked to a book that it claims to have insulted the "Jata Negara" or the Malaysian coat of arms, on its cover. Titled ‘Rebirth: Reformasi, Resistance, And Hope In New Malaysia’ is a collection of articles and essays about the 14th General Election. Melisa Idris and Sharaad Kuttan bring you the most important conversations of the day.

Over the weekend, there was a mixed response to Dr Mahathir Mohamad's endorsement of Parti Warisan Sabah president Shafie Apdal as the Pakatan Harapan Plus candidate for PM. Some have welcomed the proposal, saying it will focus much-needed attention on East Malaysia. Critics point out that  Warisan commands only 9 seats in Parliament, and the move is simply to thwart Anwar Ibrahim from becoming PM. Melisa Idris and Sharaad Kuttan speak to Vilashini Somiah, Gender Studies programme at Universiti Malaya.