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The issue of stranded migrant workers without jobs (despite them being brought in through legal channels) has been reported widely. Recently, Human Resource Minister Steven Sim expressed his disapproval towards employers who refused to pay migrant workers, and said that moving forward, the HR's ministry's policy would be that any worker brought in would be paid whether or not their work had started. We talk about the need for better accountability from employers who bring in migrant workers.

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Mohamad Safiq Rosli, the first person to be charged for stalking under Section 507A(1) in Malaysia, has been acquitted and discharged by the Shah Alam Magistrates’ Court on the grounds that he was of unsound mind when he committed the offence. We discuss what this verdict means, the landmark nature of the case, and whether Malaysia is getting safer for women now compared to before.

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Malaysia will soon have its human rights performance reviewed by countries around the world in the United Nations through a process called the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). The Coalition of Malaysian NGOs in the UPR Process (COMANGO) recently organised a media briefing to provide an overview about the UPR process. We speak to Ryan Chua, programme director at Pusat KOMAS about what this process will involve, and why it is important.

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The Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia has called for the Education Ministry to expand the dual language programme to more schools throughout the country. So we thought we'd expand the conversation and talk about language, and specifically, how our first language influences the way we learn. Listeners weigh in with their own experiences of growing up in multilingual environments, and how this shaped the way they learned.

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Ideas around what it means to travel and engage with indigenous cultures are evolving, particularly as travellers seek more immersive and meaningful experiences. We look at how this can be translated into a local context; first, we speak with Juvita Tatan Wan, who champions indigenous cultural initiatives; then, we hear from Daniel Teoh, who runs a travel-focused social enterprise in partnership with the Orang Asli community.

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Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek joins us live in studio to speak about her plans for the Education Ministry, including what her main priorities will be in the near future and why she firmly believes the future of her ministry shapes the future of the country. Later, our listeners share their visions for the Malaysian education system.

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It's the start of the year, so what better time to plan the year's travel! So we talk about the joys of travelling, and ask our listeners whether they prefer to meticulously plan ahead, or if they prefer the spontaneity of travelling on the fly.

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The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists have struck a deal with an AI voice generation studio to produce copies of actors’ voices, and this has received quite a bit of pushback from voice actors with concerns that the bulk of their work will be replaced by AI. We expand this to talk about larger questions of ethics and AI, particularly in relation to its use in industries and the concerns around exploitation or job displacement.

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With Sarawak moving towards autonomy over its health and education sectors, we discuss the idea of a more decentralised government and what the pros and cons might be. First, we speak with Dr Tricia Yeoh on how centralised governance has shaped Malaysia, and whether moving away from it might offer some benefits. Then, we hear from our listeners on whether they'd like to see their state governments have more power.

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