Good Things

Wong Kueng Hui is a 29-year-old activist from Malaysia. He was a former stateless person from Sabah who fought relentlessly for 16 long, gruelling years to gain citizenship. He finally received his IC in 2023 – a life-changing event. But as far as he’s concerned, the battle is far from over, as there are still tens of thousands (some say hundreds of thousands) of stateless people in Malaysia. Not to mention, the current Malaysian government is looking to table highly regressive amendments to the constitution that will further perpetuate stateless people. Wong joins us to share his journey.

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In a world where trees are being cut down in forests and cities to make way for development and agriculture, there is an organisation which is giving away free trees for people to plant in a bid to repopulate our planet with greenery. Since 2012, Free Tree Society has been giving away healthy plants to people and communities around Malaysia and has since given away about 63,000 plants through their efforts. On this episode of Good Things, we’re joined by Lydia Lubon, the Bangsar Nursery Programme Manager from Free Tree Society to find out more about their work and why each plant makes a difference. We also find out more about Lydia’s journey as a documentary producer and how that has fuelled her passion in environmental conservation. 

Image credit: Free Tree Society

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Native Discovery is a social enterprise with an ecommerce setup, which, as the story goes, began as an unexpected encounter between an enterprising Orang Asli aspirant, and a bright-eyed civil engineering student. The aim was to co-create community-based tourism ventures with indigenous communities in Peninsular Malaysia, to boost livelihoods while enabling respectful cultural discovery. The partners also want us all to discover the best of Orang Asli heritage with the goal of breaking stereotypes and encouraging healthy intercultural relationships. We speak to Daniel Teoh to find out more about Native Discovery, and also their latest offshoot, Native Allies Society, which aims to promote and advance indigenous allyship, and find meaningful ways to support OA communities in their journey of self determination.

Image credit: Native

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Dr Stephen Sizer is the Founder of Peacemaker Trust, a charity dedicated to peacemaking, especially where minorities are persecuted. He’s a Christian Priest (or former priest) and activist known for critiquing Christian Zionism and advocating for Palestinian rights. Despite facing tremendous backlash for his views and advocacy, including getting banned from serving, the 70-year-old has continued to advocate for Palestinian rights.

Image credit: Stephen Sizer

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Dr Judith Mackay has spent decades of her life and career advocating for stricter tobacco control  across the globe and calling out the tobacco industry for their practices. A British medical doctor based in Hong Kong since 1967, she has had vast experience working with different countries and stakeholders, as well as with the World Health Organisation in pushing for better tobacco control - she was even key in the formulation of the Framework Convention of Tobacco Control, the first international treaty drafted under the auspices of the WHO. She joins me on this episode of Good Things to share her journey and how she came to be identified by the tobacco industry as “one of the three most dangerous people in the world.”

Photo credit: Dr Judith Mackay

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Ho Yock Lin is one of the founding members of the All Women’s Action Society also known as AWAM, back in 1985. For over 40 years, she’s dedicated her life to fighting for women’s rights and pushing for legal reforms surrounding domestic violence, sexual harassment and more. In light of International Women’s Day 2024 today, Yock Lin joins us on the show to share her journey

Image credit: All Women’s Action Society

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Women's March Malaysia is a dynamic movement dedicated to advancing intersectional education and advocacy across a spectrum of issues. Grounded in the principles of inclusivity and social justice, Women's March Malaysia promotes gender equality, and works towards amplifying the voices of marginalised communities within Malaysia. We speak to *Ares, the Movement Outreach and Programmes Lead for the Women’s March Malaysia, to discuss the movement's continued work in advocating for women's rights and gender equality, and to discuss their mission, initiatives, challenges, and triumphs.

*name changed to protect privacy

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Sports is often seen as a way to bring people from all walks of life together, whether you’re playing or a spectator cheering on the game. That’s exactly what Projek Tongkat aims to do, by supporting and providing a space for amputees to partake in one of the most beloved sports in Malaysia: football. Here to share more about the project is its director, Dr Ahmad Munawwar Helmi Salim. 

Image credit: Projek Tongkat

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Mohammad Alshatri is a human rights activist. He worked with SUARAM for 6 years, where he focused on issues such as police misconduct, deaths in police custody and other human rights violations. Mat – as he likes to go by – is also a documentary filmmaker. His documentary ‘Perhimpunan Haram’ will be screened at an event at Gerakbudaya called ‘Proses Sebuah Protes” happening tomorrow at 2pm.

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Sarah Irdina is the co-founder of MISI Solidariti, which is a youth-led organisation. They garnered attention during the COVID-19 pandemic for being one of the many youth-led groups that organised the LAWAN rally during Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s administration. Sarah, who was a 20 year-old college student at the time, was arrested and detained overnight under the Sedition Act. 

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