General

On this episode, we review Jai Bhim - a Tamil film that has been garnering stellar reviews and simultaneously stirring intense controversy thanks to its sociopolitical themes. Based on a landmark court case in 1995, Jai Bhim tells the story of a woman (Lijomol Jose) from the Irula tribe who desperately searches for her husband (K. Manikandan) who is missing from police custody. Chandru (Suriya), a High Court advocate, takes on the case while exposing an inhumane web of police brutality, oppression, and casteism along the way. We discuss Jai Bhim's difficult but highly necessary social commentary, its chances at the Oscars, as well as the push and pull of classic versus modern Indian cinema tropes.

KLWKND is happening starting tomorrow, with a series of arts and cultural programmes happening in downtown KL, as part of the Art in the City programme by CENDANA. We speak with Joe Sidek about the current state of the arts industry, and what people can look forward to at the festival.

Image Source: KLWKND Official Facebook Page

In an ongoing court case, lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla claimed that vernacular school students are at a disadvantage in the job market because of limited Bahasa Malaysia proficiency. We unpack this claim by first looking at the details of the case. Then, what does the job market actually tell us? And finally - are there advantages to vernacular languages being the medium of instruction?

Image Source: Naufal Zaquan, Shutterstock

A TV series about Jho Low is in the works! Based on the novel 'Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World' by Tom Wright and Bradley Hope, SK Global and Michelle Yeoh have signed on as producers. We have a chat about this.

Image Source: Faizal Ramli, Shutterstock

In today's roundup of the Dewan Rakyat, we talk about government efforts to attract more youth into the agricultural sector, doing more to combat sexual grooming, addressing the inhumane treatment of unvaccinated teachers and finally, upholding lawmakers' rights to speak freely in Parliament.

Image Source: Dato' Mohd Azis Bin Jamman Official Facebook Page

In 2019, the World Health Organisation listed antimicrobial resistance as one of the top 10 threats to global health. In 2020 and 2021, they repeated the call. Have we made any progress in addressing antimicrobial resistance, and does the pandemic offer any lessons to be learnt? We commemorate World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (observed from 18-24 November every year) in this conversation with Assoc Prof Dr Sasheela Ponnampalavanar, Consultant Infectious Disease Physician, University Malaya Medical Centre.

Image credit: Shutterstock

The fate of the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve (KLNFR) is still hanging in the balance. Though the Menteri Besar of Selangor announced back in September that the degazetted forest would be regazetted, nothing has happened so far. The MB has also said that the regazettement will only take place after a decision is made on the East Coast Rail Link alignment. What does this all mean and what is stalling the regazettement process? We find out from June Tan and Suresh Kumar, who are both part of the Pertahankan Hutan Simpan Kuala Langat Utara (PHSKLU) coalition, and who are collectively demanding that the Selangor State Government carries out its promise to regazette the forest immediately, without any more delays, and without attaching any conditions.

HANKidz is an education platform that aims to help children aged 5-12 years old to build confidence, self esteem, focus and a winning attitude. But what exactly do they do and why do they do it? Coach Hank and Evie of HANKidz join us to discuss.

Image credit: hankidz.com

Mecapan, based out of Indonesia, is a solution for salon and beauty treatment providers that will let all women have an easy access for beauty, make scheduling appointments easier, and also will help countless business owners manage their bookings with a simple and easy-to-use application. Naula Kamila & Syifa Alsakina, the co-founders join us today to speak about why they started their business, how they have raised funds and more.

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Incentivising your team is absolutely crucial to the success of your business, and through the ups and downs of the pandemic it can be tough to not only motivate your staff, but measure their performance. Shane Mun, founder of SME performance reward system Vimigo discusses why he’s so passionate about performance management, the idea behind gamifying the workplace, and how the company has grown bigger and better over time.

Image Credit: Jason Goodman | Unsplash