It can feel all to easy to become disillusioned or dispirited when thinking about our country, so in this show, we explore the notion of hope, and whether Malaysians still have hope in... well, Malaysia. So we reached out to a couple of activists and people working to make the country a better place, and asked them whether they have hope in Malaysia, and what keeps them pushing on. We also hear from our listeners.

Some of the voices we heard from:

• Ivy Josiah, women’s rights advocate

  • Ketheswaaran Nadarajah, volunteer, Education Welfare Research Foundation.

  • Shaq Koyok, Orang Asli visual artist and activist.

  • John-Son Oei, founder and chief officer of Epic Collection.

  • Ann Teo, co-founder of ROSE.

  • Heidy Quah, founder of Refuge for the Refugees.

  • Kiu Jia Yaw, co-deputy chair of The Bar Council Environment & Climate Change Committee

  • Image Credit: Shutterstock

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We're marking Merdeka Day and Malaysia Day this year by doing a series of shows imagining a 21st Century Malaysia. In this conversation, we talk about what our country and its cities will actually look and feel like in 100 years, from the perspectives of architecture, urban planning, and climate change. We close off the conversation by hearing what our listeners imagine our cities of the future to be.

Image Credit: 123rf.com

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A Malaysian man made up his mind to chase his dream, so he's sailing the world! Former-marine-engineer-turned-sailor Fabian Fernandez's planned jouney will span five years and cover more than 30 countries, and we speak with him to find out what spurred him on this adventure. After that, we too, start dreaming big with our listeners, as they share what they've always dreamed of doing.

Image Credit: Destiny Dawn Sailing

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A recent clip of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim speaking to a young Indian woman about Bumiputera quotas in higher education, went viral and garnered both criticism and support. We speak about this with Dr Lee Hwok-Aun, senior fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, who recently wrote an op-ed outlining how Malaysia should aspire to do both needs-based and group-targeted measures. We also open up the conversation to our listeners on whether we should do away with race-based quotas altogether.

Image Credit: Anwar Ibrahim/ Twitter

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The government has announced that it is now mandatory for civil servants to wear batik every Thursday, both to support our batik industry, and to align with our current climate concerns. So first, we check in with a batik maker from Kedah, who uses a technique called eco-printing. Then, we open up the conversation to our listeners to talk about wearing batik and climate-appropriate office dress codes.

Image Credit: Teratak Seni Kreatif/ Twitter

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Despite there now being a draft of a political financing bill, we've yet to see it tabled in Parliament. We're joined by an expert on political financing and party regulation, to discuss why this should be an essential part of the reform agenda, and what needs to be applied within a Malaysian context.

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Perikatan Nasional Youth has proposed an alternative Merdeka logo and theme for the four states it governs, rather than the national one put forward by the Madani government - which begs the question, why? First, we discuss the significance of a move like this by the opposition, and in a larger sense, the role government branding plays in creating a sense of national unity. Then, we talk about whether these Merdeka themes and logos resonate with Malaysians, and ask, what themes would they pick instead?

Image Credit: Twitter

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A viral post recently called for more literature to be translated into Bahasa Malaysia, as a way for us to become more intellectual. This got us thinking about both the value of being an intellectual society, and whether this is something Malaysians aspire to be. We discuss the topic with Pusaka creative director Pauline Fan and our listeners.

Image Credit: Pexels

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A recent opinion piece on SCMP talked about how charities should focus on Gen Z when appealing for donations. According to the piece, this group is proving to be one of the most giving generations, but they also think of impact and accountability very differently. So we check in with a member of Gen Z on how they think about charity. Then, Dr Hartini Zainuddin, co-founder of Yayasan Chow Kit and freelance fundraising consultant, joins us to talk about what charitable organisations need to consider when appealing to people.

Image Credit: Pexels

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Following the state elections where the rhetoric of race and religion was played up, we look at the needs and concerns of minority communities. First, we look at the voting patterns amongst Indians and what they might indicate about the sentiments of the community. Then, we ask our listeners whether they feel like a minority, and how this might shape their decisions.

Image Credit: 123rf.com

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