Live & Learn

The finals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup took place last Sunday, in which Spain defeated England 1-0, in a hard-fought match.

However, what we’re going to be discussing today is an incident that took place after the match. President of the Spanish football federation, Luis Rubiales, has been on the receiving end of criticism after he kissed striker Jenni Hermoso on the lips, following the Spanish team’s victory. The kiss was delivered on stage during the official post-match ceremony.

On a live stream afterwards, Jenni Hermoso said that she “didn’t like it.” Later, she appeared to have changed her stance, calling it a “natural show of affection.”

Spanish Socialist politician Adrián Barbón characterised it as an “absolute lack of respect and an abuse that neither the moment, nor the euphoria, nor the joy justifies.”

We speak to Lilian Kok, Programme Manager, All Women’s Action Society (AWAM) about consent and what that means when there’s an imbalance in power dynamics. 

Image Credit: Kim Price/CSM/Shutterstock

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that the government is considering the introduction of schools targeted specifically for students from hardcore poor families, to ensure that access and opportunities are given fairly so that these students are not left behind. Would this help break the cycle of poverty among these children or will it further entrench the gap between students from lower and higher income groups? Joining us to share some insights into this is Loh Ken Ming, Director of Community Mobilisation at Teach for Malaysia. 

Image credit: 123RF

In legal and political theory, an elected and representative legislature is the central pillar of a democratic system. One third of the Articles of the Constitution of Malaysia require Parliament to perform a number of essential functions, such as the making of laws, scrutiny of executive policy, supervision of national finance, and control of emergency powers. But is Parliament failing to live up to our expectations in other areas? What are some reforms needed? We discuss this and more with Prof. Emeritus Datuk Dr Hj Shad Saleem Faruqi (Holder of the Tunku Abdul Rahman Chair at the University of Malaya, and co-chair of the UM Malaysian Bar Constitutional Literacy Initiative) and Maha Balakrishnan (Parliamentary Consultant & Researcher, and a Research Fellow at the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Asian Headquarters).

Law & Behold is an ongoing series which aims to arm Malaysians with constitutional literacy, and is done in collaboration with The Malaysian Bar, the University of Malaya's Faculty of Law, and the Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights (MCCHR).

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Wiki Impact is a new online platform dedicated to sharing stories of the impact industry and highlighting changemakers on the ground. On today’s show, I’ll be speaking to Co-Founder of Wiki Impact, Deborah Chan, to talk about how the organisation has evolved since 2021 and their upcoming Top 100 Changemakers Campaign.

Image Credit: Wiki Impact

Child sexual abuse are some of the most heinous crimes, and unfortunately, we are still hearing about such cases happening today, often “invisibly” because it happens at home. Just recently, it was reported that a 9-year-old is the youngest mother on record in the country, after it was mentioned by Yayasan Ikhlas chairman Zainur Rashid Zainuddin, who added that the girl had become pregnant after she was raped by her brother. Just yesterday, a man was found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting two of his teenage daughters over the past seven years, and the eldest daughter is now pregnant. What can we do to better protect young children, especially in their own homes? We speak to Dr James Nayagam, Chairman of Suriana Welfare Society to find out. 

To support their work, visit www.suriana.org for more information. 

Image credit: 123RF

“Election goodies” and “local council elections” are usually seen as two separate matters. But recently, Benjamin Loh, Senior Lecturer at the School of Media and Communication at Taylor’s University and Visiting Fellow with the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute wrote a column for Malaysiakini discussing if local council elections can destigmatise 'election goodies'? We discuss. 

Image Credit: Djohan Shahrin/Shutterstock

Ahead of the six state elections that are happening on the 12th of August, the Centre for Independent Journalism, along with University of Nottingham Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, and Universiti Sains Malaysia, launched the “Say No To Hate Speech” portal as part of their hate speech monitoring project during this election period. Here to tell us more about this project as well as the need to recognise and counter hate speech is Zaharom Nain, professor of communication and multimedia at the University of Nottingham Malaysia. 

Image Credit: CIJ Malaysia

The Hungry Ghost Festival is one of several important festival days of Ghost Month - the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar. The festival is the setting of the Malaysian film Hungry Ghost Diner, which is a supernatural tale about memory, nostalgia, and commemoration, directed by filmmaker Cho We Jun. The film recently won the prestigious Netpac Award at the 27th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, and we catch up with We Jun, and also Lim Benji, the film’s producer, to discuss why they made a Cantonese language film set against the backdrop of the Hungry Ghost Festival during the MCO, while also doing a 101 on the Hungry Ghost Festival.

In light of the upcoming state elections, we take another look at Belanjawan 2023. On today’s show, we hone in on higher education specifically and discuss if our government is spending enough on higher education and whether we are getting the outcomes that we want from that spending.

If you’d like to further explore the initiatives that the government is offering to the rakyat, you can visit: www.belanjawan.mof.gov.my/manfaat

In light of the upcoming state elections, we take another look at Belanjawan 2023. On today’s show, we hone in on education and discuss if our government is spending enough on education and whether we are getting the outcomes that we want from that spending.  We speak to Chan Soon Seng, CEO, Teach For Malaysia.