General

A group of local contract doctors are organising the #HartalDoktorKontrak movement in order to push the government to provide them with fairer compensation and benefits. We find out more by first, hearing directly from the organisers of the strike about what’s happening and what they’re demanding. Then we speak about the medical field's system. Finally, we look at how public health funding fits into the picture.

Image Source: Mulyadi, Unsplash

A trade union in the UK is looking at introducing laws to ban out-of-hours emails as the lines between work and home blur amid the pandemic. Dhanya gives us the details.

Image Source: Windows, Unsplash

Singapore is drawing up a road map to live alongside COVID-19 long term, now regarding it as an endemic disease. Is Malaysia ready for this? We look at how this approach can be taken here.

Image Source: Victor He, Unsplash

Having to deal with a sports injury can be difficult, more so if you’re an active person and it’s affecting your mobility. In this first of a three-part series, we catch up with consultant orthopaedic surgeon Dr Harjeet Singh and someone who recently had a knee injury, to find out what it’s like to decide on the right treatment for injuries, and what the recovery process is like 2 weeks after surgery.

Image source: Shutterstock 

We've all been living through a traumatic year, both in relation to this public-health crisis as well as the social-justice crossroads we face as a country. With lockdowns continuing until “underdetermined dates” in Malaysia, many are being overwhelmed by feelings of despair, loneliness, anger and fatigue, among others. Can turning to the natural world be the panacea to help us get through these times? We discuss this and more with Baida Hercus, the President of the environmental NGO, Free Tree Society.

Image source: Free Tree Society Facebook 

The latest announcement of MCO by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, this time until an undetermined date, has massively affected almost everybody. People are losing jobs, suicide rates are on the rise, and there’s no end in sight. One of the communities that have been hit particularly hard is the refugee community. But what are the struggles that they’re facing? And is there anything we can do to help? Heidy Quah, Founder of Refuge For the Refugees (RFTR), as well as Davina Devarajan and Arissa Jemaima Ikram, the co-founders of Women For Refugees, joins us to discuss. 

If you’d like to donate to Refuge For the Refugees:
CIMB 8000499285, Persatuan Kebaikan Perlindungan Kanak-kanak Perlarian, Ref: Foodaid 

If you’d like to donate to help with a refugee community leader, Shahidah, who’s currently having pre-malignancy of the uterus:

Maybank: 164100310723, in the name of Arissa Jemaima (Co-Founder of WFR) Ref: Shahidah

Image source: Heidy Quah Facebook, Arissa Jemaima Ikram LinkedIn, Davina Devarajan LinkedIn

Work – it’s where we spend eight hours or more hunched over our computers and desks. And with more people working from home during the pandemic, we’re even sitting on the floor, on our beds, and anywhere around the house to work. In this webinar, we look at the aches, pains, and injuries that can develop, and what you can do to change things at your workplace (or at home). 

This is an edited recording of the 3rd BFM Health & Living 2021 webinar* – this webinar series is presented by AIA, enabling Healthier, Longer, Better Lives.

*Download the exclusive Guide to Working From Home here (before 14 July) to stand a chance to win the lucky draw.

The gig economy is becoming an essential part of the economic system and is expected to continue to thrive, say experts. In Malaysia, according to World Bank data, about 26% of the workforce are freelancers and this number is growing. As the gig economy was already on the rise before the pandemic, the sector would be expected to remain buoyant overall.

Image Credit: kreatikar | Pixabay

Minister of Finance Tengku Zafrul clarified the conditions of the 6-month loan moratorium that was announced as part of the Pemulih financial aid package.

Image Credit: TY Lim | Shutterstock

The gig economy has often been seen as a lesser form of work - one that people resort to when there aren’t “stable” opportunities available. But that mindset is shifting now, with more people turning to gig work during the pandemic to not only earn a living, but find a way to thrive by working for themselves.

Image Credit: mohamed_hassan | Pixabay