General

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said that not much is left in the government coffers after spending over RM600 billion on battling the health and economic impacts of COVID-19. We speak with Professor Mahendhiran Nair to get a better understanding of what this means for our economy.

Image Source: Abdul Razak Latif, Shutterstock

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia is suing political artist and activist Fahmi Reza for his recent satirical artwork that has allegedly insulted the institution. Fahmi himself has stood firm on his stance that satire is a form of expression that he has a right to exercise. We speak to Thulsi Manogaran of the Civil Society Coalition on the position of satire when it comes to freedom of speech. Then, lawyer Khaizan Sharizad Razak tells us about the legalities in pursuing action against satire. Finally, we hear from Ernest Ng, comic book writer of CovidBallz, on why satire is important.

Image Source: Phil Shaw, Unsplash

Uber, Paypal and Walgreens have teamed up in the US to help provide free rides to vaccination centres. Shawn Tanis from BFM's News Desk tells us more.

Image Soure: Dan Gold, Unsplash

The Health Ministry recently announced that vaccinations will not be given at night during Ramadhan. Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali said this is because people will not show up to their appointments at those times, due to tarawih prayers. We speak to Dr Musa Mohd Nordin, on how this might affect the national vaccine rollout.

Image Source: Macau Photo Agency, Unsplash

Stress seems like an inevitable part of everyday life, especially as an adult. But what if experiencing early life stress, including childhood trauma, could lead to changes in gene expression and result in lasting effects? Neurogeneticist Dr Azlina Ahmad Annuar joins us on her monthly series to explain what exactly is happening to our genes under stress, and if this could increase the likelihood of stress later in life.

Image source: Shutterstock

It can be said that Malaysia is built on the backbones of migrant labourers. We see them everywhere -- cleaning our streets, fixing our rooftops, serving us at restaurants, banging and clanging in factories and even taking care of our kids. They're a part of us. However, new reports pop up every other week about foreign laborers overworked, underpaid and placed in horrible living environments. Some call it forced labour, some might even say modern day slavery. But what exactly constitutes forced labour? And how do a lot of big companies get away with it, a lot of times without much public awareness? In this episode, two labour right activists join us to share their insights.

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A proposal to build a road across the Shah Alam Community Forest is being vehemently opposed by many stakeholders, including residents of the area, environmentalists and nature lovers who frequent the forest, for desperately needed recreation. The small but important community forest serves as a water catchment area, is a critical ecological corridor, and still homes many endangered species such as the Malayan tapir. We find out what went down at a recent intense and eventful public hearing session about this case last week, at the Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) headquarters.

Image source: Shah Alam Community Forest's Facebook Page

Wondering why many restaurants and cafés have been missing from your favourite food delivery platform? It’s not the outlets with the issue; the number of food delivery riders has taken a hit with the loosening of MCO restrictions.

All restaurants, eateries, stalls, fast food outlets and food delivery services are allowed to operate until 6am in light of the Ramadan fasting month, which starts today.

Online fitness classes were first thought to be a temporary placeholder at the beginning of the pandemic, but now they seem to be here to stay. However, are online fitness classes worth the same fees as in-real-life classes, or is that something that the fitness industry has to adjust?