Good Things

Toastmasters International is a global nonprofit dedicated to improving public speaking and leadership skills. The organization has spent years helping people from all walks of life — from nervous first-time speakers to seasoned professionals — find their voice and become better leaders. In this episode, we speak to Radhi Spear, International President of Toastmasters International about her journey and what it means to be a good communicator.

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Here’s a good thing you need to know: The Malaysia Teacher Prize is a prestigious national award established to recognize and celebrate outstanding educators across Malaysia. It was launched in 2022 and apart from recognising teachers on a national level, the Malaysia Teacher Prize also provides a platform to scale up their best practices.

In light of teacher’s day happening on the 16th of May, we speak to Samuel Isaiah, Co-Founder, Malaysia Teacher Prize…. As well as, Cikgu Muhammad Nazmi bin Rosli, a teacher based in Sarawak and the winner of the 2023 Malaysia Teacher Prize.

Applications for the 2025 Malaysia Teacher Prize are open. If you’d like to send in your application or just find out more information, you can head over to malaysiateacherprize.org.

Image Credit: Malaysia Teacher Prize

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Here’s a good thing you need to know: For more than 75 years, the Malaysian Red Crescent Society has been serving the community in Malaysia as a voluntary humanitarian organization providing service and public education in disaster management, as well as healthcare in the community. In conjunction with the World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day on 8 May, we’re looking back on the years of MRCS’ activities, how it fights to keep humanity alive, and how it maintains the spirit of volunteerism alive among youths.

Image Credit: Malaysian Red Crescent Society

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The Buku Beyond Bars campaign is an initiative by the Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights (MCCHR) and the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network, aimed at supporting incarcerated individuals in Malaysian prisons by providing them with books and reading materials. In this episode, we speak to Mazni Ibrahim who’s the CEO of MCCHR and Effa Qamariani, who’s the Communications & Outreach Officer about the campaign and why books are a crucial part of rehabilitation.

Image Credit: MCCHR Official Facebook

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In the heart of Subang Jaya, a patch of land is quietly transforming lives. Grow Subang is more than a community garden—it’s a space where people come to heal, learn, and reconnect with the earth and each other. From composting café scraps to teaching condo dwellers how to grow herbs in tight spaces, this grassroots initiative is proving that cultivating food can also cultivate belonging. We speak to the people behind it—and those who’ve found meaning in the soil.

Image Credit: Grow Subang

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Here’s a good thing you need to know: Honorary Professor Dr Tan Sooi Beng is being honoured with the 20th BOH Cameronian Lifetime Achievement Award — and it’s easy to see why. She's not only an internationally recognised scholar of music, but also an activist, educator, and community collaborator who’s spent decades making the arts more inclusive, more Malaysian, and more meaningful. In conjunction with World Art Day, we speak to her about her life's work, what inspires her, and why the arts matter more than ever.

Image Credit: Hon. Professor Dr Tan Sooi Beng

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Here’s a good thing you need to know: In the face of medical emergencies and trauma in the great outdoors, knowledge can be the difference between life and loss. The Wilderness and Austere Medicine Society Malaysia is on a mission to bridge the gap, offering critical training to both healthcare providers and everyday individuals, preparing them to navigate the unique challenges of wilderness medicine. We speak to Professor Shaik Farid Abdul Wahab, the society's chairman, about the life-saving work they do, the importance of equipping people for unexpected situations, and the world of medicine outside traditional settings.

Image Credit: shutterstock.com

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Here’s a good thing you need to know: For almost 40 years, long before the awareness of neurodivergence became mainstream, the National Autism Society of Malaysia has been providing lifespan services to people with autism, including their families and caregivers. We speak to the chairman Julian Wong about NASOM’s work over the years, the people who breathe life into their services, and what keeps them going.

Image Credit: NASOM Official Website

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What started off as a young woman’s desire to read in a public park soon blossomed into Kuala Lumpur Reads, a movement that brings hundreds of people together every weekend through the simple act of reading. Participants gather every Saturday from 8.30am to 10.30am at the Perdana Botanical Garden to read together, in silence, before having a quick chat and taking some photographs at the end. The movement has since sparked various chapters all around the Klang Valley – from PJ all the way to Cyberjaya.

In this episode, we’re joined by Victoria Navina who started the movement and Sadho Ram who’s a curator at KL Reads to talk about their journey, reading as a (quiet) communal experience, and romance – because Navina and Sadho who met at KL Reads are now married!

Image Credit: Shutterstock

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Here’s a good thing you need to know: how to be happy. It’s one of those things - along with parenting and life - that you wish you had an instruction manual for. Why is the pursuit of happiness so important to us? Is happiness just about fleeting experiences of pleasure, or can we strive to achieve a more constant state of it? We find out what a clinical psychologist Dr Alvin Ng has to say about happiness, and what ideas he can share from his new book, “Happiness: Mastering the 5Gs for an Enhanced You”.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

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