General

Over the weekend, a Facebook post by the Director-General of Health, Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah garnered a lot of attention for stating that 40 healthcare workers were infected after receiving the vaccines. We discuss the context behind those infections, and look at why this doesn't mean that the vaccines are not effective.

Image Source: Jonathan Borba, Pexels

A year into the pandemic, how are you responding to the daily COVID-19 statistics from the government? Do you find yourself confused by sudden shifts in the number of reported cases? We try to make sense of those figures by speaking to Dr Lau Cher Han, chief data scientist from LEAD about how those numbers are gathered. Then, we hear from Dr Hariyati Sharima Abdul Majid, health psychologist at Mercy Malaysia about the psychology of how we respond to these constant statistical updates.

Image Source: Markus Spiske, Pexels

The government is looking into creating a new regulatory body to oversee parcel delivery services, in order to ensure the welfare and safety of delivery riders. Dhanya Nair tells us more.

Image Source: Liza Summer, Pexels

This year marks the 15th anniversary since the establishment of Agensi Kaunselling dan Pengurusan Kredit (AKPK), or the Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency. We look at their role and achievements over the years, and discuss how Malaysians’ understanding of financial management has evolved with the times.

Image Source: Agensi Kaunseling dan Pengurusan Kredit (AKPK) Facebook

From taking probiotics to consuming more fermented foods, or going on the latest trending diets, we are seeing more people interested in improving their gut health. But is there a right way to take better care of our gut health and where do you start? We bring both Western and Eastern practices to the table to find out if popular diets and supplements work for your digestive health. We speak to Dr Max Hu, consultant gastroenterologist and hepatologist from Sunway Medical Centre, and Mun Weng Yan, TCM Senior Physician from Sunway TCM Centre. 

With land in Sarawak under intense pressure from the logging, palm oil and mega-hydro companies, communities in the Baram River Basin are getting together and organising themselves, to create an indigenous managed protected zone, and fend off unwanted and poorly planned development projects. Ahead of this year's Earth Day - which calls on us all to Restore Our Earth - we find out more about how the indigenous communities in Baram are working with partners and collaborators to protect their land, from Celine Lim, the Manager of SAVE Rivers, and a herself a Kayan from Long Pilah, in the Baram area.

Image source: The Borneo Project Facebook Page

COVID-19 cases are back up across Malaysia, having surged above the 2,000 mark for four days in a row. Some health experts are concerned that we’re entering a fourth wave, and with Ramadan bazaars and many social gatherings continuing despite the rise in cases, many are calling on the government to reconsider suspending them. To zoom in on what can be done to tackle the surge, we speak with Dato Professor Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman from University Malaya.

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Labour advocates in America were taken aback when Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama voted against unionising, but unions can only solve so much; the problems in Amazon’s work cycle go much deeper than the mere issue of pay.

Many child safety advocates are protesting against Facebook’s announcement of launching a version of Instagram for children under the age of 13, claiming that such a platform would be detrimental for young users.

There’s no denying that a stigma exists when it comes to TVET and its place as a formal form of education. Fortunately, all that seems to be changing as more students opt for skill-based work as a way of making a mark in the job market. Locally, the move towards TVET seems to be gaining traction as well, with the notion that money only comes with academic degrees slowly disappearing.